Moreover, p-mTOR had tight associations with differentiation (P < 0.01), depth of invasion (P < 0.01), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.04) and TNM stage (P = 0.02); patients with positive p-mTOR expression may show poor differentiation, deeper wall invasion, positive lymph node metastasis, and late tumor stage. This evidence concerns the gene MTOR and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.