The human body is covered by a special drainage system called the lymphatic system. This system is responsible for transporting various types of cells and substances that are no longer needed from the organs and tissues of the body.
As the lymph fluid is transported through the lymphatic drainage system, it passes through small nodules or nodes that act as filters. These are responsible for filtering out the unwanted substances. If one lymph node is not able to filter out the unwanted substances, then the lymph fluid will move on to the next one.
Cancerous cells can break off from a cancerous organ and travel along this route. They can become trapped at the lymph nodes where they can accumulate and infiltrate a different area of the body.
The first lymph nodes to capture and hold cancerous cells are called sentinel lymph nodes.
You can read about how the lymphatic system and male cancers in the relevant sections of our website:
Find out more about how penile cancer staging is affected by the presence of cancer in the lymph nodes. There is also a procedure for penile cancer which involves removal of lymph nodes. You can read more about this procedure, called a lymphadenectomy here.
More about how staging testicular cancer is affected by whether cancer is present in the lymph nodes.
About staging prostate cancer.
