Axillary lymph nodes

Looks like

Twenty to forty nodes in the fat of the armpit, in levels around the chest muscle.

What it does

Filter lymph from the arm, the chest wall and most of the breast.

Keeping it well

Nothing routine; they are sampled in breast cancer, and removing them can swell the arm for life.

Its parts

• Axillary nodes
• Brachial nodes
• Cubital nodes
• Infraclavicular nodes
• Interpectoral nodes

Related conditions

• Breast cancer
• Cat-scratch disease
• Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis)
• Male breast cancer
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Shoulder dislocation