The body’s defense against infection is quite remarkable. An important part of this defense is the body’s lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are also sometimes referred to as lymph glands. These effectively work as a sort of disease filter. Items which cause diseases like bacteria or viruses can spread to other parts of the body. Rather than allowing that to occur, the lymph node will trap these dangerous issues. Different groups of lymph nodes will focus on different parts of the body.
Lymph nodes are clusters of immune cells. However, since they are designed to trap disease, they may often find themselves infected by serious issues like cancer. In most cases, lymph nodes will swell up as they help to handle minor or moderate diseases or infections. There are lymph nodes throughout the body, but some of the most active ones are in the neck, groin and under a person’s arms.
Swelling is the main issue when it comes to the lymph nodes. As they handle and fight against an infection, they will swell up. Many parents will often touch the area near their child’s neck lymph nodes if they believe the child to potentially be sick. Swollen lymph nodes can feel tender, or quite sore when they are touched. There’s also some other symptoms that can occur like fever, sweating at night, sore throat, runny nose, or respiratory infections. If the lymph nodes swell throughout the entire body, then it’s more likely that it’s a widespread issue throughout the body like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, mono or one of several immune system disorders. Severe swelling might indicate cancer.
As mentioned, there’s a large number of conditions that can cause the lymph nodes to swell up. Some of the basic and common conditions include:
There’s also more obscure or rare conditions which can cause the lymph nodes to swell including:
Many people know that cancer can spread throughout the body as it grows. One of the two ways it can do this is through the lymph system. When this happens, it’s common for the cancers to grow within these lymph nodes in the other areas of the body. Typically a cancer will grow into the lymph nodes near the original cancer site first, then it will spread to other aspects of the lymph system.
In some cases cancer will start directly in the lymph nodes. Unsurprisingly it’s called lymphoma. That being said, it’s far more likely for cancer to start elsewhere and then spread into the lymph nodes.
When a cancer reaches the lymph nodes, the first thing it will start to do is swell. This swelling is more significant than that from minor infections. However, when cancer is first appearing, it may only be a small amount of cells.
Lymph nodes are often removed from the body in an attempt to determine if cancer is located within it. Removing a single lymph node is a biopsy while a lymph node dissection removes many. Checking the lymph nodes for cancer is crucial in helping determine cancer treatment plans. When a cancer has spread to the lymph system, it’s often much more difficult to treat and keep it from spreading to the rest of the body.
