may also be a prognostic marker for recurrence-free survival in another uterine neoplasia, epithelial ovarian cancer [66]. MMP8 (human neutrophil collagenase) is a member of the matrix metallopeptidase family. Recent work has shown that a SNP in MMP8 may be a predictor of lung cancer risk [67], and that higher plasma levels of MMP8 may protect against lymph node metastasis in breast cancer [68]. Consistent with these findings, somatic mutations of MMP8 were common in melanomas, and mutated MMP8 failed to inhibit tumor formation in vivo [69], suggesting widespread roles for MMP8 in cancer progression. Three members of this gene cluster have no known roles, yet the functions of the other cluster members suggest they could contribute to cancer progression. In this case, the association of this cluster of genes with LPHN2 has suggested that LPHN2 may be a regulatory point for the modulation of genes with important roles in cancer, including MMP8 and SOX11.
