The lowest plasma level was measured in patient 27 (Fig. 3c, d), but in the corresponding biopsy, areas with both high TIMP-1 tumor cell immunoreactivity (Fig. 3c) as well as areas with low TIMP-1 tumor cell immunoreactivity but presence of TIMP-1 positive tumor blood vessels (Fig. 3d) were detected illustrating the heterogenic nature of the TIMP-1 staining. This evidence concerns the gene TIMP1 and neoplasm.