Importance of Lymph Node Removal
Lymph node removal, as its name suggests, refers to a medical process where a particular lymph node in the body is removed.
When a lymph node has to be removed, it means that that specific lymph node is already dangerous. It has to be remembered that the basic function of a lymph node is to filter foreign particles, especially those that can cause cancer. When the virus or bacteria is already too strong and the lymph node is no longer that strong to filter foreign and dangerous particles, the lymph node becomes swollen. This is already not a good sign. That is why physicians or doctors suggest removing the lymph nodes, so that the extent of the involvement if cancer can also be detected through the removed lymph node.
To give a clearer picture, take breast cancer as an example. When a woman checks her breast for any tumors or bulges, she checks on her and underarms among many other areas around the breast. Usually, a lymph node, once swelling, is found right under the arm. This is a sign that a disease is involved with the breast. The doctor will have to take the swollen lymph node off the underarm to see how much damage is already caused. If cancer is present, the extent of the damage or the involvement of cancer can be seen through examining the lymph node that is removed.
Lymph nodes are useful parts of the body. These serve as drainage systems. The cancerous cells are filtered so that the body won’t be attacked. But then again, there are times when the spread of cancer cells is just too inevitable. The main reason why lymph nodes are removed is because of cancer. There are times when the lymph nodes that used to protect the body from foreign particles, are already being cancerous nodes themselves. When lymph nodes become cancerous, they are already considered positive lymph nodes with which these have to be removed.