Levels of circulating eHsp70 which are associated with the Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-L1) status, gradually increased from early stage to metastatic disease, and patients with lymph node metastases in surgically treatable NSCLC had significantly higher eHsp70 levels than nodal negative patients. Here, CD274 is linked to metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes.