As shown in Table 3, univariate Cox regression analysis suggested that histological subtype (P  =  0.039 for OS; P  =  0.041 for DFS), lymph node metastasis (P  =  0.031 for OS; P  =  0.037 for DFS), grade (P  =  0.042 for OS; P  =  0.048 for DFS), Ki-67 expression (P<0.001 for OS and DFS), as well as USP22 expression (P  =  0.025 for OS; P  =  0.029 for DFS) were significantly associated with poor OS and DFS. Here, USP22 is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.