Univariate Cox regression analysis summarized in Table 4 showed that clinical stage (P=0.0009), T stage (P=0.0038), lymph node metastasis (P=0.0007), beclin-1 expression (P<0.0001) and LC3 level (P=0.018) were significantly associated with overall survival. Here, MAP1LC3A is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.