MMP9 and exstrophy-epispadias complex: A significant positive correlation was observed between HMGA1 and MMP9 expression in late stages (III and IV) EEC tumors (rho = 0.38, p < 0.01), and between HMGA2 and MMP2 in early stages (I and II) tumors (rho = 0.21, p = 0.008) (Table 3), suggesting a differential association pattern between the invasiveness markers and HMGA genes.