In summary, the present study demonstrated that CXCR4 was upregulated and associated with lymph node metastasis, and exo-hsa_circRNA_0056616 in plasma to serve as a potential biomarker for theragnostic of lymph node metastasis in lung adenocarcinoma. This evidence concerns the gene CXCR4 and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.