MMP1 and gastric neoplasm: The serum MMP-1 protein concentration was almost 1.5 fold higher in patients with lower stomach cancer (n = 54) (with combined risk haplotypes) than patients with upper stomach cancer (n = 15) (with reference haplotype; p = 0.024), suggesting the functional importance of these SNPs in the regulation of MMP-1 gene expression and there by influencing the lower stomach carcinogenesis process (Figure 2).