TIMP1 and cancer: Several studies have suggested that TIMP-1 can stimulate cell proliferation (Bigelow et al., 2009; Hayakawa et al., 1992), inhibit apoptosis (Liu et al., 2003; Liu et al., 2005), induce angiogenesis (Kessenbrock, Plaks & Werb, 2010), accelerate tumour invasion and metastasis (D’Angelo et al., 2014), and cause adverse cancer hallmarks via crucial signals, such as the regulation of NOTCH and WNT (Jackson et al., 2017) and participation in transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ)-regulated crosstalk (Park et al., 2015).