To test the hypothesis that the cancer status of the adjacent mucosa and the activation of immune cells in tumor stroma were more important prognostic factor in the disease-free period, while the tumor characters are more important prognostic factor in the disease relapse/metastasis period, we have examined the relationship between progression-free survival (PFS) and the pim-1 expression in tumor, tumor-adjacent mucosa and tumor stroma. Here, PIM1 is linked to cancer.