VCAN and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes: It was indicated that distant metastasis (P = 0.042), depth of invasion (P = 0.036), TNM stage (P < 0.001), and VCAN expression (P = 0.001) were independent prognostic factors for patients with BLCA, whereas tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and lymphovascular invasion were not (Table 2).