As shown in Fig. 4A, the levels of plasma versican were positively correlated with TNM stage (T1–T4) (r = 0.589, P < 0.0001) and lymph node metastasis (N = 0 or N ≥ 1) (r = 0.522, P < 0.0001; Fig. 4C). Here, VCAN is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.