VEGF-C expression was associated with lymph node metastasis, recurrence and a poorer five-year survival rate in patients with HNSCC,11 being an independent prognostic factor.11, 29 Moreover, the online available database cBioPortal (http://www.cbioportal.org) shows that over-expression of VEGF-C correlated to significantly lower disease-free (P=0.0022, Supplementary Figure S7A) and overall (P=0.015, Supplementary Figure S7B) survival rates in patients with HNSCC (n=517). Here, VEGFC is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.