MMP9 and hepatocellular carcinoma: Moreover, Kuang et al. provided direct evidence that the number of CD15+ neutrophils in the peritumoral stroma was significantly increased and was correlated with disease progression in HCC patients and their OS and that a high infiltration of peritumoral neutrophils was positively correlated with tumor size and angiogenesis progression at tumor-invading edge of HCC patients via MMP-9 signaling.