Bumber B, et al. - In this single-centre study involving 159 individuals (125 were women and 34 men), researchers analyzed the role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors (TIMPs) in the development of cervical metastases in papillary thyroid cancer. They assumed that the level of expression of MMPs and TIMPs was correlated with the development of cervical metastases and the pattern of the metastatic process in papillary thyroid cancer. The expression of MMP-1, -2 and -9, as well as TIMP-1 and -2 in papillary thyroid carcinoma tissue, were retrospectively examined. MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2 levels of expression did not differ statistically significantly between groups. A predictive factor for metastases development can be considered to be an elevated expression of MMP-1 and TIMP-1 in tumor tissue.