MMP9 and neoplasm: To mimic the in vivo tumor-stroma interaction in the local microenvironment, SACC-LM cells were co-cultured with (1:1) human fibroblasts and exhibited an enhanced gelatinase activity, that was 1.78±0.45-fold (MMP-2), and 2.35±0.53-fold (MMP-9) higher than that when cultured alone (Fig. 3).