Lymph Node Metastases in Papillary and Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Are Independent of Intratumoral Lymphatic Vessel Density

Abstract

As no LVD differences were found amongst thyroid tumors with or without LNM, dissemination is more likely to depend on the tumor ability to invade the abundant lymph vessel network of the surrounding thyroid tissue than on the ability of the tumor to promote de novo lymphangiogenesis.