MAP1LC3A and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes: High LC3 expression, compared with low LC3 expression, was remarkably associated with mild clinicopathological characteristics, including macrovascular invasion [6 (85.8%) vs. 1 (3.1%), p < 0.001], lymph node metastasis [5 (71.5%) vs. 2 (6.1%), p < 0.001], AJCC stage III [5 (71.5%) vs. 2 (6.1%), p < 0.001], BCLC stage C [4 (57.1%) vs. 3 (9.1%), p = 0.006], tumor recurrence [5 (71.4%) vs. 5 (15.2%), p = 0.001], and mortality [6 (85.8%) vs. 9 (27.2%), p < 0.001].