MMP9 and cancer: IL-17 promotes lung tumorigenesis via several different pathways, such as inducing MMP9 and MMP2 secretion to promote cancer cell invasion [25, 26], changing the expression of EMT-related markers [27], promoting CXCR-2-dependent angiogenesis [28], directly recruiting macrophages through IL-17 receptor A and IL-17 receptor C [29] and promoting M2 macrophage differentiation through COX-2/PGE2 pathway in the microenvironment of lung cancer [30].