Table 3 Percentage distribution of altered blood vessels and lymphatic vessels according to their functional status intratumorally (zone 1), along the invasive front (zone 2) and extratumorally (zone 3) in non-metastatic (N0/M0), lymphogenous-metastatic (N+) and haematogenous-metastatic (M+) colon carcinomas

Altered vessels zone 1

present

38

33

36

absent

62

67

64

Altered vessels zone 2

present

30

38

32

absent

70

62

68

Altered vessels zone 3

present

35

33

28

absent

65

67

72

Lymphatic vessels zone 1

absent

3

9

4

compressed

78

58

68

mixed

19

33

24

open

0

0

4

Lymphatic vessels zone 2

absent

13

8

16

compressed

38

42

56

mixed

46

42

24

open

3

8

4

Lymphatic vessels zone 3

absent

30

21

24

compressed

11

12

16

mixed

16

17

24

open

43

50

36