Importantly, the present study provides support for the clinical relevance of the oncogenic MMP3-Rac1b signaling axis in all three of these tumor types, (a) by demonstrating co-localized staining for MMP3 and Rac1b in tumor tissue, and (b) by revealing association of tumor MMP3 expression with poor outcome of patients with these three tumor types. Here, MMP3 is linked to neoplasm.