MMP1 and metastatic malignant neoplasm in the lymph nodes: In colorectal cancer, high MMP-1 expression not only significantly correlates with hematogenous metastasis, but also correlates with the depth grading of tumor invasion, tumor growth pattern, the presence of lymphatic invasion, venous invasion, neural invasion, lymph node metastasis, hepatic metastasis, and increasing stages of Dukes' classification31, 32.