The overall survival rates for the 66 patients with positive MT1-MMP tumour staining were significantly lower than that of 40 patients with negative MT1-MMP staining (P = 0.0002), while the prognosis of 55 patients with positive VEGF-C tumour staining was poorer than with negative VEGF-C staining (P = 0.0001). This evidence concerns the gene VEGFC and neoplasm.