Breast, lung, stomach, pancreas, and prostate cancers are the most common tumors that result in lymphangitis.
Lymphangitis carcinomatosa may show the presence of Kerley B lines on chest X-ray.
[2] However, in about 20 percent of cases, the inflammation of the lymphatic tubules (lymphangitis) is caused by a tumor that blocks the drainage of the lymph duct.
Previously, the finding of lymphangitis carcinomatosis meant about a six-month life expectancy.
[2] Lymphangitis carcinomatosa was first described by pathologist Gabriel Andral in 1829 in a patient with uterine cancer.