Given EMT’s established role in cancer metastasis, key EMT markers were analyzed; EMT is characterized by decreased epithelial markers (e.g., E-cadherin), increased mesenchymal markers (e.g., vimentin) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2, MMP-9), which collectively enhance cellular motility and invasiveness in vitro (37–39). Here, MMP2 is linked to cancer.