Background: Oral cancer represents a significant component of the global cancer burden. It develops as a result of multiple risk factors. The main histological form of oral cancer is oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The disintegration of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is one of the key hallmarks of cancer progression, which stimulates the invasion of tumoral cells into the neighbouring tissue. Matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9) can degrade different elements of the ECM and basement membrane.

Methods: A total of 35 histologically diagnosed cases of OSCC (n=25) and healthy individuals (n=10) as control were included. Immunohistochemical staining was performed on all cases. The results were analysed using SPSS version 20.

Results: Increased expression of MMP-9 was observed in OSCC cases (n=23/25; 92%) as compared to healthy individuals. Statistically, a significant relation was observed while comparing the grade of staining intensity and MMP-9 expression among OSCC cases (p=0.001).

Conclusion: The present study is planned to assess the immunohistochemical expression of MMP-9 in diagnosed cases of OSCC and healthy individuals. Increased expression of MMP-9 was observed in OSCC as compared to healthy individuals. Evaluation of MMP-9 could be of clinical importance in OSCC and can be used as a diagnostic predictive marker of OSCC.