[Development of an experimental model for spontaneous lymph node metastasis of human esophageal carcinoma in nude mice--histopathological analysis].

Metastasis, a unique feature of malignant neoplasms, is the major cause of death among cancer patients. The exact mechanisms responsible for metastases are not fully understood because of the lack of proper experimental models. We established a new experimental model of spontaneous lymph node metastasis of human esophageal carcinoma in nude mice and analyzed the mode of metastasis formation histopathologically.