The results showed that TFF3 was upregulated in PTC tissue and was associated with lymph node metastasis (<i>P</i>=0.0001), pathological grade (<i>P</i>=0.0002) and Snail expression (<i>P</i>=0.0001).
Higher expression of TFF3 and TWIST1 was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (<i>P</i> = 0.034, <i>P</i> = 0.000), advanced stage (<i>P</i> = 0.031, <i>P</i> = 0.003), and poorer survival (<i>P</i> = 0.042 for the TFF3 group, <i>P</i> = 0.003 for the TWIST1 group).
The results indicate that TFF3 point mutations seem to be a rare event in colorectal carcinogenesis; TFF3 expression may play a role in promoting lymph node metastases of CRCs and serum TFF3 may be a potential useful marker for patients with CRCs and their metastases.