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REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.

Sec. Cancer Genetics

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1636942

This article is part of the Research TopicReviews in Cancer Genetics Volume IIView all articles

From Trash to Treasure: Tumor Draining Lymph Nodes as a Multi-omics Goldmine in Cancer Therapy

Provisionally accepted
Yina  LiYina LiQian  ZhouQian Zhou*
  • Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Tumor draining lymph nodes (TDLNs), as secondary lymphoid organs, are pivotal in initiating and regulating adaptive immune responses. Historically, TDLNs were recognized primarily as metastasis gateways in cancer, promoting radical dissection to prevent recurrence. However, emerging preclinical studies reveals their critical role in orchestrating systemic anti-tumor immune responses during cancer therapy, highlighting the dilemma of balancing lymph nodes (LNs) preservation with metastasis control. This review traces the evolving understanding of TDLN biology in oncology, from the era of radical LN dissection to multi-omics-driven insights, and synthesizes their dual roles as immune hubs and metastatic niches across first-line clinical therapies (e.g., immunotherapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, etc.). We further propose the concept of "Lymph Node Multi-modal Protective Research (LNMPR)", emphasizing the prospective value of integrating multi-omics technologies, including spatial transcriptomics, singlecell profiling, and imaging, to decode LN immune dynamics and optimize therapeutic responses. By bridging mechanistic insights with clinical strategies, LN-centric immune modulation may open up a new path for precise tumor treatment.

Keywords: TDLN, Immunotherapy, Radiotherapy, chemotherapy, LNMPR, multi-omics technology

Received: 28 May 2025; Accepted: 30 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Li and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Qian Zhou, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

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