Figure 2.

Schematic representation of the hypothesis of the evolution of the expression of metalloproteases and TIMP to cancer lesions in (A) Crohn’s disease (CD) and (B) ulcerative colitis (UC). The first column on the left shows IBD-not-associated CRC patients, and the first column on the right shows IBD-associated CRC patients (group A: CD, group B: UC). The upper part of both columns shows the highest expression of the investigated factors in patients with CD associated with CRC. Further to the right the strongest expression of the agents studied in IBD-associated CRC patients compared to CRC sporadic cases can be observed. +: expression; +++: higher expression.