VEGFC and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes: In Cox regression for DFS including patients'age, histological grading, VEGF-C expression, histological type, tumor size, LVD, lymph node metastasis, hormonal status, c-erbB-2, LVI and COX-2 expression, only ER (P = 0.045), LVI (P = 0.025), c-erbB-2 status (P = 0.007) and LVD (P = 0.015) remained as independent prognostic factors.