MMP9 and breast carcinoma: Based on our recent results from the TCGA database (Figure 3), we observed significant upregulation of genes encoding key EMT transcription factors, including SNAIL1 and ZEB1, the EMT-related transcriptional regulators such as FOXC2 and NOTCH1, as well as genes encoding EMT marker proteins VIM, KRT18, KRT8 as well as MMP9, in TNBC compared to other breast cancer subtypes (nTNBC).