The associations between the variants of MMPs and cancer risk in 36,530 cases and 41,258 controls were found, with 12 associations (MMP-2 rs243865 with esophageal cancer and lung cancer, MMP-7 rs11568818 with bladder and cervical cancer, and MMP-9 rs3918242 with breast cancer) rated as strong associations for cancer risk and 7 and 15 as moderate and weak associations, respectively. The gene discussed is MMP9; the disease is esophageal cancer.