Several studies have reported that the VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 axis is associated with lymph node metastasis and that its expression is a prognostic factor for various cancers of the esophagus (17,18), stomach (19), colorectum (20), lung (21), cervix (22,23), prostate (24) and head and neck (25). Here, VEGFC is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.