STK11 and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes: However, the decreased expression of LKB1 was positively associated with tumor size (OR: 1.60, 95%CI: 1.09–2.36, P = 0.017), lymph node metastasis (OR: 2.41, 95%CI: 1.53–3.78, P<0.001) and TNM stage (OR: 3.35, 95%CI: 2.20–5.09, P<0.001).