When using serum-free media, the MTT results showed that CXCL12 (100 ng/ml) could stimulate the proliferation of the ovarian cancer cells, CAOV3 and SKOV3 (P<0.0001 and P<0.0001, respectively), however, when the cells were treated with LPA (20 μM) and CXCL12 (100 ng/ml) simultaneously for 24 h, the proliferation was significantly enhanced compared with the CXCL12 group (P=0.001 and P=0.041, respectively). Here, CXCL12 is linked to ovarian cancer.