Univariate COX proportional hazard regression analysis indicate that tumour size (P = 0.01 and 0.007 for OS and PFS, respectively), distant metastasis (P < 0.001 for OS and PFS), lymph node metastasis (P < 0.001 for OS and P PFS), performance status (P < 0.001 for OS and PFS) and syntenin expression (P = 0.004 and = 0.001 for OS and PFS, respectively) were factors predicting a poor prognosis in lung cancer patients. The gene discussed is SDCBP; the disease is metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.