Furthermore, the results displaying the presence of MMP-9 which demonstrated the absence of co-localization with MMP-2, the particular association with steroid receptors in histological subtypes, the lack of association of MMP-9 with FIGO stages and the lack of significance for MMP-9 in Cox proportional hazard analysis indicate that MMP-2 and MMP-9, although having common function as “gelatinases”, differ in their significance in epithelial ovarian tumors and probably show variations in the interaction with sexual steroid receptors. This evidence concerns the gene MMP2 and ovarian epithelial tumor.