Our data revealed that up-regulation of PTK2 and MMP2 genes correlated with the expression of mesenchymal genes, which are expressed as much in cancer cells that fully or partially completed an EMT program as in stromal mesenchymal cells; that high FAK or MMP-2 mRNA levels were correlated with nodal metastasis; that MMP-2 mRNA levels are also significantly associated with tumor size and disease stage. This evidence concerns the gene MMP2 and cancer.