HAVCR2 and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes: However, the previously reported findings are based on the high expression of TIM-3 that helps improve tumor metastasis; initially, the role of TIM-3 in metastatic CRC was reportedly the opposite, as the level of TIM-3 in paracancerous tissue was found to be low, and the downregulation of TIM-3 was always associated with lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis (stages III–IV) and tumor cell infiltration or invasion (5, 61).