Abstract: Objective To determine the clinical significance of MMP7 protein expression in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer(EOC).Methods MMP7 expression was evaluated using immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization in 10 normal ovarian tissues,10 benign ovariantumors and 54 EOCs.Results MMP7 was not expressed in normal ovarian tissues and benign ovarian tumors.The rate of positive expression of MMP7 in EOC cells is 88.89%,and the expression of MMP7 in EOC was correlated with clinical stage and pathological grades,but not with lymph node metastasis.The expression of MMP7 and mRNA also had positive correlation in EOC(P＜0.0001).Conclusion MMP7 expression is up regulated in EOC.It plays an important role in the tumor growth of EOC.MMP7 protein and mRNA may be used as a prognostic factor in EOC.