MMP7 and cancer: Besides nuclear MMP-7, nuclear MT1-MMP plays essential roles in cancer patient survival.15 One cohort study examined 101 pairs of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and their adjacent liver tissues, with eight normal liver tissues as control to compare MT1-MMP expression by immunohistochemical analysis.15 The authors found that nuclear MT1-MMP expressing patients have worse overall survival rate with more chance to bear big tumor.15 Moreover, nuclear MMP-1 expression was detected in the stromal cells of breast cancer.