Our data for MMP2 are consistent with those of Lichtinghagen et al (2002), who studied the expression of MMP2 in human prostate tissues using quantitative RT–PCR, but differ from observations of MMP-2 protein levels using immunohistochemistry, where levels were increased in prostate cancer tissues (Brehmer et al, 2003), and from a study that identified an increase in transcript level in the highest grades of cancer (Still et al, 2000). This evidence concerns the gene MMP2 and prostate cancer.