Unexpectedly, in stroma putative myofibroblasts (identified as spindle‐shaped cells) were identified that expressed MMP‐7; these were scarce or absent in tissue adjacent to cancer, were present in low abundance in dysplastic regions (Fig. 1F), were commoner in the body of the tumor (Fig. 1G) and were most abundant at the invasive front (75 ± 7% cells scored 3)(Fig. 1H). This evidence concerns the gene MMP7 and cancer.