MMP9 and hepatocellular carcinoma: A recent study using HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma) cell lines showed that the migratory effect of fascin-1 on HCC cells led to efficient invasion when assisted with secretory factors from intrinsically highly invasive cells such as MMP-2 (matrix metalloproteinase-2) and MMP-9, which fascin-1 alone could not up regulate [18].