Abstract: Objective :To investigate the relationship between lymphangiogenesis in primarybreast cancer and tumor metastasis. Methods :Immunohistochemistry SP method was applied to labelthe lymphatic vessels of tumors by VEGFR-3 staining in 89 cases of primary breast cancer. Results :Different levels of lymphangiogenesis took place, and it was mainly located in the paraneoplastic stro-ma. No evidence of mature lymphatic vessels was found in cancer nests. The lymphatic vessel density(LVD) of primary breast cancer tumor showed a positive correlation with the clinical stage and axillarylymph node metastasis. More advanced clinical stage tumors had higher LVD (P<0.05), and the LVD inthe positive axillary lymph node group was significantly higher than in the negative group (P<0.05). Conclusions :Lymphangiogenesis is significantly correlated with axillary lymph node metastasis, and itpredominantly takes place in the tumor stroma of primary breast cancer. The author believes that tumorlymphatic vessels are in essence the lymphatic vessels of the tumor stroma.