What are "lymph nodes" and why are they important?

What are "lymph nodes" and why are they important?

Lymph nodes are part of our immune system. Lymph nodes also drain our different organs and drain the different tissues, and clean the body. It's an opportunity for the immune system to attack any bacteria or anything that should not be in the body. In terms of cancer, lymph nodes also can be the first spot that cancer can go to after it starts in its initial organ. So for instance, the cancer starts in the breast, but depending upon which lymph nodes are draining the breast, the cancer will usually spread to those lymph nodes first before it spreads anywhere else in the body. And so it can be one of the first places to look to give you a clue if the cancer may have spread beyond the local area.