PTEN and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes: This association was confirmed by Sawai and colleagues, who demonstrated that PTEN loss was significantly correlated with local recurrence, advanced TNM stage (p < 0.01), lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05) and with lower 5-year survival rate (p = 0.012), indicating a link between PTEN deregulation and CRC aggressive phenotype (34).