To study the relationship between VEGF-C-mediated lymphangiogenesis and axillary lymph node metastasis, we used two mouse mammary carcinoma cell lines; the BJMC338 has a low metastatic propensity, whereas the BJMC3879 has a high metastatic propensity although it originated from the former cell line. Here, VEGFC is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.