MTA1 and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes: MTA1 overexpression was strongly associated with depth of invasion (OR = 1.88, 95%CI: 1.05–3.37, P = 0.03), lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.30, 95%CI: 1.76–3.01, P<0.001), vascular invasion (OR = 2.02, 95%CI: 1.40–2.91, P<0.001) and TNM stage (OR = 2.78, 95%CI: 1.63–4.74, P<0.001), and was related to 1- (RR = 1.84, 95%CI: 1.18–2.89, P = 0.008), 3- (RR = 1.74, 95%CI: 1.32–2.30, P<0.001) and 5-year (RR = 1.64, 95%CI: 1.18–2.27, P = 0.003) OS.