We observed that co-culturing with MMP9+ TAMs significantly promoted the migration and invasion of HCC cells and the tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) (Fig. 3d–f and Supplementary Fig. 7a, b), suggesting that the MMP9+ TAMs could promote HCC progression through inducing HCC cells migration, invasion, and tumor angiogenesis. Here, MMP9 is linked to neoplasm.