The immunohistochemical intensities of MSH6 and MLH1 in the 253 lymph-node metastasis patient group were significantly higher than those in patients without lymph-node metastases (78.9% + 13.1% vs. 68.0% + 26.1%, P = 0.013; 72.5% + 15.6% vs. 56.5% + 24.3%, P = 0.002). Here, MLH1 is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.