SPARC and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes: Another study revealed that the expression level of secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) was higher in highly invasive subclone than in less invasive subclone of OC cells by cDNA microarray analysis; high SPARC expression was correlated with lymph node metastasis, low differentiation, high stage and a poor outcome in OC patients (57).