In addition, the levels of VEGF and MMP-9 were found to closely correlate with lymph node metastasis (VEGF, P<0.0001; MMP-9, P<0.0001) in the pretreatment group, while being independent of other clinicopathological parameters (P>0.05). This evidence concerns the gene VEGFA and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.