CCL17 and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes: Multivariate analysis, including the candidate covariates (age, tumor burden, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and CCL17 expression), showed that the variables individually associated with a shortened PFS were tumor burden (HR 2.7, 95% CI 1.8 to 4.1; p<0.0001) and CCL17 expression (HR 2.2, 95% CI 1.2 to 4.1; p=0.013).