Objective To explore the clinical value of the expression of Matrix metalloproteinase 2,9, type Ⅳ collagen and E - CD in the bladder transitional cell carcinoma. Methods MMP2, MMP9, type Ⅳ collagen and E - CD were examined immunohistochemically in 49 cases of BTCC and 10 cases of normal bladder tissue.The correlation between the expression of MMP2,MMP9,type Ⅳ collagen,E - Cd and tumor grade and stage, the correlation between MMP2, MMP9 and type Ⅳ collagen, the correlation between MMP2, MMP9, type Ⅳ collagen, E - CD and tumor recurrence and patients' survival rate were closely studied.Results The expression of MMP2,MMP9 increased with tumor grade ( P 0.01 and P 0.05) ,MMP2 also increased with stages ( P 0.05 ) . The expression of type Ⅳ collagen reduced with tumor grade and stage (P 0.01 and P 0.01) . Reduction of type Ⅳ collagen correlated significantly with increased expression of MMP2 ( r = 0.466 P 0.01). High expression of MMP2 was associated with poor outcome ( P 0.05) .Conclusions MMP2 played a key role in the invasion of BTCC.MMP2 may be a useful predictor in bladder transitional cell carcinoma.