What's more, both ZEB1 and ZEB2 were found to be significantly associated with depth of invasion (pooled OR for ZEB1: 2.423, 95% CI: 1.311-4.478, p=0.005; pooled OR for ZEB2: 2.187, 95% CI: 1.009-4.743, p=0.047), lymph node metastasis (pooled OR for ZEB1: 3.136, 95% CI: 2.278-4.317, p<0.001; pooled OR for ZEB2: 2.360, 95% CI: 1.701-3.276, p<0.001) and TNM stage (pooled OR for ZEB1: 4.194, 95% CI: 2.449-7.183, p<0.001; pooled OR for ZEB2: 3.169, 95% CI: 2.079-4.830, p<0.001). Here, ZEB2 is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.