The expression level of ANRIL was significantly associated with the follow-up times of OS of patients with cancer, both equal to or greater than 5 years (HR: 2.07, 95% CI: 1.71–2.49, P < 0.00001) and less than 5 years (HR: 2.71, 95% CI: 1.53–4.82, P < 0.00001).Taken together, the results show that high expression of ANRIL serves as a potential predictive factor for lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis in various human cancers. The gene discussed is CDKN2B-AS1; the disease is metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.