MMP9 and neoplasm: Selected MMPs have been implicated in angiogenesis, a process without which a tumour cannot undergo the neovascularization that is crucial for its nourishment and structural support.[3,26,28–31] Certain members of the MMP family are the only proteinases that are known to be capable of cleaving the collagen types of which the BM (type IV) and the ECM (types I and III) are composed,[32] MMP-2 and MMP-9 degrade type-IV [21,33,34] and MMP-13, types I to IV [35].