PHLDB2 and neoplasm: In line with this result, the expression level of PHLDB2 is associated with pathologic tumor stage (Fig. 1b) and regional lymph nodes pathology (Fig. 1c) defined by American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), as the PHLDB2 levels in Stage III and Stage IV or in N2 are significantly higher than in Stage I or N0, respectively.