3 ways of lymph node metastasis in laryngeal cancer

Lymphatic metastasis is one of the common ways of laryngeal cancer metastasis, and it is also a manifestation of cancer cell metastasis and spread. Cancer cells can metastasize in an anterograde, retrograde, or leaping manner. No matter which way, cancer cells will form new lesions in the lymph nodes and cause serious damage to the human body.

Anterograde metastasis: After the cancer cells enter the lymphatic vessels, they run along the lymphatic flow of the organ, first entering the level I lymph nodes of the organ, where they stay, grow and multiply, and then invade the level II and even level III lymph nodes above through the output lymphatic vessels of the level I lymph nodes.

Retrograde metastasis: Generally, cancer cell metastasis starts from the antegrade direction. When a large number of cancer cells enter the lymphatic vessels and form emboli to block the lymphatic vessels, the lymphatic vessels at the distal end of the blocked vessels will expand, forcing the cancer cells to metastasize retrogradely along the lymphatic vessels.

This retrograde metastasis can be accomplished through the anastomosis of lymphatic vessels, common lymph nodes or lymphatic collateral circulation, resulting in the metastasis of lymph node cancer outside the local organ, and the metastatic cancer reaches the contralateral lymph nodes, which are lymph nodes that cannot be injected by the normal lymph flow of the cancerous organ. The metastasis of the accessory nerve lymph nodes in patients with laryngeal cancer is the result of retrograde metastasis.

Skip metastasis: Skip metastasis means that cancer cells do not stay in the regional lymph nodes as the lymph fluid flows, but enter the next group of lymph nodes or lymph nodes farther away from the primary cancerous organ. It should be noted that when the first stop lymph node is negative, the patient should not take it lightly, because the next stop lymph node may be positive.