Fig. 1

MMP-11 Immunohistochemistry. Assessment of MMP-11 expression density: A: less than one third of fibroblasts are stained (score 1), B: more than a third but less than two-third of the fibroblasts are stained (score 2), C: more than two-third of fibroblasts are stained (score 3). This 3-point score is then multiplied by the proportion of tumor stroma surface in which fibroblast-like MMP-11-positive cells are detected at low-magnification (0-100%), to obtain the MMP-11 immunohistochemical score (range 0-300). Tu: tumor cells islets, arrowheads: MMP-11 positive (cytoplasmic staining) fibroblast-like cells