Lymph node and its clinical implications

A lymph node is a small ball or an oval-shaped organ of the immune system, distributed widely throughout the body including the armpit and stomach and linked by lymphatic vessels. The lymphatic system consists of a number of lymph nodes, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (Waldeyer's ring in the head and neck), the spleen, and the thymus. The information derived about the number of nodes, the unilaterality or bilaterality of the disease, the location of the nodes, and the size of the nodes can be used in two different formats to aid prognostication and patient treatment. Hence study of lymph nodes and its clinical applications can be of therapeutic use.