AIM To investigate the correlation between lymphogenous metastasis and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) activity and the expression of Fas Iigand of tumor cells in lymph nodes.METHODES Fifty-six inbred 615-mice were equally divided into 2 groups and inoculated with Hca-F and Hca-P cells. Their lymph node metastatic rates were examined.Growth fraction of lymphocytes in host lymph nodes was detected by flow cytometry. The Hca-F and Hca-P cells were cultured with extract of lymph node, liver or spleen.The quantity of MMPs in these supernatants was examined by zymographic analysis. The expression of Fas ligand,PCNA, Bcl-2 protein of Hca-F and Hca-P cells in the mice were examined by immunohistochemistry. The apoptosis signals of macrophages in lymph nodes were observed with in situ DNA fragmentation.RESULTS On the 28th day post-inoculation, the lymph node metastatic rate of Hca-F was 80% (16/20), whereas that of Hca-P was 25% (5/20). The growth fraction of lymphocytes was as follows: in the Hca-F cells, the proliferating peak of lymphocytes appeared on the 14th day post-inoculation and then decreased rapidly, while in HcaP cells, the peak appeared on the 7th day post-inoculation and then kept at a high level. With the extract of lymph node, the quantity of the MMP-9 activity increased (P＜0.01) and active MMP-9 and MMP-2 were produced by both Hca-F and Hca-P tumor cells, which did not produce MMPs without the extract of lymph node or with the extracts of the liver and spleen. The expression of Fas Ligand of Hca-F cells was stronger than that of Hca-P cells (P＜0.01). The expressions of PCNA and Bcl-2 protein of Hca-F cells in the tumors of inoculated area were the same as that of Hca-P cells. In situ DNA fragmentation showed that the positive signals of macrophages were around HcaF cells.CONCLUSION Secretion of MMPs which was associated with metastatic ability of Hca-F and Hca-P tumor cells depends on the environment of lymph nodes. The increased expression of Fas ligand protein of Hca-F tumor cells with high lymphogenous metastatic potential in lymph nodes may help tumor cells escape from being killed by host lymphocytes.