In conclusion, our study reveals that serum CCL18 is increased in patients with LSCC, which is also linked with diverse malignant phenotypes of LSCC including advanced clinical stages, lymph node metastasis etc. More importantly, examination of serum CCL18 provides useful prognostic information for patients with LSCC. Here, CCL18 is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.