TIMP1 and cancer: MMPs expression is controlled by specific, endogenous TIMPs and the imbalance between MMPs and TIMPs is responsible for cancer metastasis.11 TIMP-1 is the tissue inhibitor of MMP-7, whose negative regulation of MMP-7 is involved in several tumor metastasis processes.27 However, in our study, TIMP-1 did not seem to be the regulator of MMP-7 expression in BUC cells.