Patients with early stages (I and II) and lymph node metastasis absent showed higher serum IGFBP‐3 levels than those of patients with advanced stages (III and IV) and lymph node metastasis present (4.78 [3.92, 5.49] vs 3.77 [2.65, 4.59] μg/mL, P = 0.04; (4.73 [3.92, 5.72] vs 4.11 [2.45, 4.83] μg/mL, P = 0.02), while no significant associations were found between CEA levels and clinical characteristics(2.2 [1.5, 6.2] vs 2.5 [1.8, 4.1] ng/mL, P = 0.931; 2.2 [1.5, 6.1] vs 3.0 [2.1, 6.3] ng/mL, P = 0.35). Here, CEACAM5 is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.