At the molecular level, we demonstrate that transcriptional activity of gene promoters of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) -2 and -9, which are overexpressed in aggressive carcinomas [25], is up-regulated in the presence of PBK/TOPK, as a result of PBK-dependent activation of β-catenin-TCF/LEF signaling. Here, PBK is linked to carcinoma.