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Lymph nodes of the armpit
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Lymph nodes are way stations of the immune system, and the armpit holds a large cluster of them, sunk into the fat pad that fills that hollow. There are 20 to 30 of them, though the number varies from person to person, and they are organized into five groups.
Lymph, the fluid that seeps out into the spaces between tissues, passes through them. The lymph that reaches the armpit comes from the chest wall, the breast, the arm, and the abdominal wall, the part that lies above the navel. Each group receives lymph from one neighboring area: each is the drain for its own stretch of pipe.
They matter a great deal in breast cancer: they are usually the first place tumor cells reach when they leave the breast, which makes them the first site of metastasis.
In brief
The axillary lymph nodes sit in the axillary fat pad and are arranged in five groups.
Each group receives lymph from a neighboring region, and together they drain the chest wall, the breast, the arm, and the abdominal wall above the navel.
Each group is the drain for its own stretch of pipe.
There are 20 to 30 of them, though the number varies from person to person.
They are usually the first site of metastasis in breast cancer.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAnatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Axillary Lymph Nodes, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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