Objective To investigate the expression of RECK and MMP-9 in pancreatic cancer and to explore the relationship between RECK, MMP-9 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics.Methods PV6000 immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of RECK and MMP-9 in 28 cases of pancreatic cancer and 10 cases of normal pancreatic tissue. All the statistical analyses were performed by using SPSS 13.0 statistical software to determine the relationship between RECK, MMP-9 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics. Results The overall positive rate of RECK espression was 46.43% (13/28)in pancreatic cancer, which was significantly lower than that in normal pancreatic tissue (90%, 9/10). The positive rate of RECK espression in Ⅰ + Ⅱ clinical stage (75.0% ,9/12) was significantly higher than that in Ⅲ + Ⅳ stage (25.0%, 4/16 P < 0.05 ). The positive rate of RECK expression in cases without distant metastases (60.0%, 12/60) was significantly higher than that in cases with distant metastasis (12.5%, 1/8,P<0.05). The overall positive rate of MMP-9 was 75% (21/28) in pancreatic cancer, and 20% (2/10) in normal pancreatic tissue. The comparison between these two groups indicated a significant difference (P <0.01 ). The positive rate of MMP-9 in Ⅰ + Ⅱ clinical stage(50.0% ,6/12) was significantly lower than that in Ⅲ + Ⅳ stage (93.8,15/16, P < 0.05). The positive rate of MMP-9 in well differentiation group(33.3%,1/3 ) was significantly lower than that in poor differentiation group ( 100%, 12/12 ,P < 0. 01 ). The expressionof RECK was negatively correlated with the expression of MMP-9 ( r = - 0. 536, P < 0.01 ). Conclusions RECK is lowly expressed in pancreatic cancer, but MMP-9 is highly expressed. RECK and MMP-9 may serve as important markers in the evaluation of tumor stage.