Tissue was processed as previously described.3 (link),4 (link) Following removal of paraffin, followed by hydration, sections were stained with these antibodies: monoclonal-anti-MMP-9 (R&D Systems, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA; MAB911; 1:50 for 2 hours), monoclonal-anti-EGFR (Chemicon S/A, São Paulo, Brazil; CBL417; 1:40 for 60 minutes), and anti-S100A4 polyclonal antibody (Dako, Glostrup, Denmark; A5114; 1:2,500 for 90 minutes). In each case, a non-immune immunoglobulin (Ig)G1 negative control (Dako; X0931 clone DAK-GO1) was performed to eliminate false positive staining and a positive tissue control (surgically resected lung tissue) was also used. Bound antibodies were elaborated using peroxidase-labeled EnVision™ + (Dako; K4001) and liquid diaminobenzidine (DAB) + (Dako; K3468).