Apart from the proportional relationship between the increase in VEGF-C positivity of the epithelium and the number of positive vessels, no relation was found between the number of positive vessels and the diagnostic group (comparison between normal mammary gland, benign and malignant tumours), evaluation field (intratumoral/intramammary or extratumoral/extramammary) and histological stage. The gene discussed is VEGFC; the disease is cancer.