Carvacrol decreased cancer cells proliferation and apoptosis via decreasing matrix metalloprotease (MMP‐2, MMP‐9) expressions while downregulating the Bcl‐2 expression and inducing phosphorylation of extracellular regulated protein kinase and protein kinase B(p‐Akt) at the molecular level (Fan et al., 2015). This evidence concerns the gene MMP9 and cancer.