Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Cancer Sci. 2018 Oct;109(10):3005-3012. doi: 10.1111/cas.13738. Epub 2018 Aug 23.
Lymphangiogenesis and increased expression of lymphangiogenic growth factors are associated with high rates of lymph node (LN) metastasis and with poor prognosis in some, but not all, solid tumors. In addition to its involvement in metastasis, lymphangiogenesis has been shown to have other roles in tumor pathogenesis, such as the niche function of tumor stem cells and regulatory functions of antitumor immune responses. In contrast, evidence has accumulated that tumor-induced lymphangiogenesis displays the heterogeneity in gene signature, structure, cellular origins and functional plasticity. This review summarizes the advances in the research on the heterogeneity of tumor lymphangiogenesis and discusses how it may contribute to functional complexity and multiplicity of lymphangiogenesis in tumor progression.
淋巴管生成和淋巴管生成生长因子的表达增加与某些实体瘤中淋巴结（LN）转移率高和预后不良有关，但并非所有实体瘤都如此。淋巴管生成除了参与转移外，还在肿瘤发病机制中具有其他作用，例如肿瘤干细胞的生态位功能和抗肿瘤免疫反应的调节功能。相比之下，越来越多的证据表明，肿瘤诱导的淋巴管生成在基因特征、结构、细胞起源和功能可塑性方面具有异质性。本文综述了肿瘤淋巴管生成异质性研究的进展，并讨论了其如何有助于肿瘤进展中淋巴管生成的功能复杂性和多样性。
