Finally, we explored the potential association of plasma-derived EV levels of ADAM10, CD59, TSPAN9 and plasma CEA with different clinicopathological characteristics, including gender, age, TNM stage, tumor stage, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis, of enrolled CRC patients (Table 3). Here, CEACAM5 is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.