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Lymphangitic Metastatic Disease

Lymphangitic metastatic disease, also known as lymphangitic carcinomatosis, refers to a cancer involving the lymphatic system that has spread beyond its origin point to other body systems. While under normal circumstances the network of lymph glands and ducts throughout our bodies protects us from illness and helps regulate our fluid balance, cancer cells from the lungs or other organs can burrow their way into the lymphatic system and use it as a transport medium to spread cancer to any other part of the body.

  1. The Lymphatic System

    • The lymphatic system plays an important role in maintaining and protecting the body. According to the Lymphomation website, every body system except the central nervous system contains lymphatic tissues. This network of nodes and vessels distributes a clear fluid known as lymph throughout the body, maintaining the correct balance of bodily fluids and conveying lipids (fats) from the intestine to the bloodstream. This system also manufactures and transports special cells called lymphocytes which protect the body from infection.

    Lymphangitic Carcinomatosis

    • LearningRadiology.com describes lymphangitic carcinomatosis as cancer that spreads rapidly by invading the lymphatic system, which then conveys it throughout the body. Unlike lymphoma, which Cancer Treatment Centers of America describes as a cancer of the lymph glands themselves, lymphangitic cancers originate in other parts of the body. Lymphangitic carcinomatosis often starts in the lungs, though it may also occur in the breasts, cervix or digestive organs, then penetrates blood vessel walls to enter the lymphatic system. From there the cancer metastasizes, or spreads to other organ systems.

    Diagnosis

    • Patients with lymphangitic carcinomatosis may cough or have trouble catching their breath, according to LearnRadiology.com. Conventional X-ray images will only reveal the condition about 25% of the time. A CT scan, which the Mayo Clinic defines as a cross-sectional x-ray technique, can find cancerous growth that X-rays miss. Even then, the condition can mimic a variety of other diseases.

    Treatments

    • If possible, doctors must stop cancers before they spread. About 60% of all cancers of unknown origin stem from adenocarcinoma, the common type of lung cancer, according to The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Cancer Treatment Centers of America lists chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and immune system therapy as standard treatments to reduce or destroy these cancer cells before they can spread.

    Outlook

    • Once cancer has spread throughout the lymphatic system, patients have little chance for survival according to LearnRadiology.com, making it even more critical to detect lung and other organs cancers before this metastasis can occur. Merck notes that the 5-year survival rate from lung-related cancers has risen no higher than 15% even with modern treatment methods, and the 5-year outlook for patients with metastatic cancer hovers below 1%. In very rare cases, however, treatment seems to resolve the illness. NCBI posted a case study of a patient with pulmonary lymphangetic carcinomatosis that had originated as a breast adenocarcinoma. Aggressive chemotherapy and other treatments managed to rid the patient of cancer, with no recurrence at the 1.5 year mark.

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