Notably, coexpression of B7-H4 and p-PKCδ was significantly associated with moderate/poor differentiation (χ2 = 5.072, P = 0.024), lymph node metastasis (χ2 = 10.909, P = 0.001) and advanced Dukes’ stage (χ2 = 10.017, P = 0.002). Here, VTCN1 is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.