ations ▁in ▁levels ▁of ▁trans cription , ▁M MP ▁secret ion , ▁M MP ▁activation , ▁or ▁M MP ▁in hib ition . ▁M MP ▁production ▁in ▁many ▁can cers ▁may ▁be ▁up reg ulated ▁in ▁surrounding ▁st rom al ▁t issue ▁rather ▁than ▁simply ▁in ▁the ▁tum or ▁les ion . ▁For ▁instance , ▁M ook , ▁et ▁al . ▁showed ▁that ▁M MP - 2 ▁m R NA ▁levels ▁are ▁strik ingly ▁similar ▁between ▁met ast atic ▁and ▁non - met ast atic ▁les ions ▁in ▁col ore ct al ▁cancer , ▁but ▁met ast atic ▁cases ▁are ▁correl ated ▁with ▁higher ▁levels ▁of ▁M MP - 2 ▁m R NA ▁in ▁surrounding ▁health y ▁t issue . ▁For ▁this ▁reason , ▁it ▁is ▁difficult ▁to ▁fully ▁understand ▁the ▁complex ▁role ▁of ▁M MP s ▁in ▁cancer ▁pro gression . ▁ ▁Ro le ▁in ▁cancer ▁cell ▁invasion ▁ ▁One ▁of ▁the ▁major ▁imp lications ▁of ▁M MP s ▁in ▁cancer ▁pro gression ▁is ▁their ▁role ▁in ▁EC M ▁de grad ation , ▁which ▁allows ▁cancer ▁cells ▁to ▁migr ate ▁out ▁of ▁the ▁primary ▁tum or ▁to ▁form ▁met ast ases . ▁More ▁specifically , ▁M MP - 2 ▁( al ong ▁with ▁M MP - 9 ) ▁is ▁capable ▁of ▁de grad ing ▁type ▁IV ▁col lagen , ▁the ▁most ▁abund ant ▁component ▁of ▁the ▁bas ement ▁memb rane . ▁The ▁bas ement ▁memb rane ▁is ▁important ▁for ▁maintain ing ▁t issue ▁organization , ▁providing ▁struct ural ▁support ▁for ▁cells ,