Abstract: Objective To compare the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 and explore the effects of MMP-2 and MMP-9 on invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer cell lines HGC-27 and SGC-7901. Methods The mRNA levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were detected using Real-time PCR. Relative concentrations of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the culture medium were measured with ELISA. Though gelatinase zymography, specific activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the culture medium were analyzed. By transwells chamber model assay, the invasion abilities of two cell lines were compared, and using homogeneous adhesion and heterogeneous adhesion experiments their adhesion ability were compared. Results The level of MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA in HGC-27 were higher than that in SGC-7901. The relative concentrations of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in HGC-27 culture medium were higher than that in SGC-7901 culture medium. The specific activity of MMP-2 in HGC-27 culture medium was stronger than that in SGC-7901 medium, meanwhile, the specific activities of MMP-9 were similar in two cell lines. For HGC-27, transmembrane cell count and heterogeneous adhesion cell count were more than the SGC-7901, and homogeneous adhesion cell count was less than SGC-7901(P＜0.05). Conclusion Compared with SGC-7901, the expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9 of HGC-27 were higher, and the invasion and heterogeneity adhesion ability were stronger, but the homogeneous adhesion capacity was weaker. The results suggest that the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 may promote the invasion and metastasis of cancer cell.