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the lymphatic system is a very complex and intricate system with many lymphatic tissues, the most common of them being: the lymph nodes. They are usually clustered in the cervical, axillary, popliteal, cubital and inguinal regions. Thus, they are dispersed throughout the body relatively evenly. The lymphatic system has two main roles: to return interstitial fluid back to the blood circulation, and it also has an immune function. Lymph nodes are small fitering structures that filter the lymph fluid and then it is returned to the blood. Any foriegn bodies or debris are stopped at the lymph node and macrophages and other lymphocytes are deployed for phagocytosis. They kill and ingest the forigen particles. Hence, a lymph node usually gets swollen after an infection as the lymphocytes have acummulated and are fighting it. Thus, lymph nodes help to prevent the spread of disease throughout the body and act as part of a defence mechanism. Hence, it is very important to have many lymph nodes dispersed in the body as a defence mechanism should there be an infection. Despite the slow movement of lymph itself, if a pathogenic cell was to circulate through the body, infection would spread and because the lymphatic system is closely linked with the circulatory system, the pathogenic cell will also travel through the bloodstream and can reach any part of the body. Lymph nodes are also the maturation site of various lymphocytes. Lymph nodes become hazardous when a carcinogenic cell is trapped and begins to proliferate in the slow moving fluid at a lymph node. it slowly travels from node to node until the lymphoma spreads. In these cases, the lymph nodes affected are best to be removed in order to prevent further spreading of the cancer.
hope this helps. i am a first year PT student from Australia.
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