The notion that MMP-2 is a valuable indicator of gastric cancer progression and prognosis is supported by immunohistochemical, zymography and mRNA studies showing that MMP-2 is associated with tumour invasion, lymph node metastasis and survival (Allgayer et al, 1998; Mönig et al, 2001; Chuanzhong et al, 2002; Kabashima et al, 2002; Liu et al, 2002a; Elnemr et al, 2003; Yokoyama et al, 2004; Ji et al, 2005). This evidence concerns the gene MMP2 and gastric cancer.