Lymphatic research and biology
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Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare destructive lung disease characterized by an abnormal proliferation of smooth muscle-like cells (LAM cells) in the lung and along the axial lymphatics. LAM demonstrates a heterogeneous clinical course, but there is no serum surrogate marker available for assessing the disease severity or predicting the disease progression. Since the authors have recently demonstrated the extensive LAM-associated lymphangiogenesis and its potential role in progression and metastasis of LAM cells, they hypothesized that serum levels of lymphangiogenic growth factors might be increased in LAM and become a surrogate marker for disease severity. ⋯ Serum VEGF-D levels may be a valuable surrogate marker for evaluating the disease severity in LAM.