CEACAM5 and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes: Univariately, postoperative early relapse was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (P=0.025), vascular invasion (P=0.002), perineural invasion (P=0.001), laparoscopic surgery (P=0.019), high postoperative serum CEA levels (P=0.001), and presence of persistent postoperative CTCs (P<0.001).