We screened a diverse range of ovarian cancer cell lines originating either from high-grade tumors (CAOV3, HEY, JHOS2, JHOS4, OVKATE and TOV21G); or ascites (SKOV3, OVCAR5, OVCAR4, AOCS1, CAOV318, OVCA433 and OVCA429) of ovarian cancer patients; and a normal Fallopian tube cell line (FT282) (48, 49) for the mRNA expression of TIMP-1, -2 and -3 and MMP-2, -9 and -14. This evidence concerns the gene TIMP1 and ovarian carcinoma.