CXCL12 and cancer: After adjusting for age at diagnosis, menopausal status, tumor histopathologic grade, histopathologic subtype, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, and lymph node metastasis, we found that high expression of SDF-1α (HR, 4.13; 95 % confidence interval (CI), 1.58–11.07; P = 0.005) and deep myometrial invasion (HR, 2.77; 95 % CI, 1.08–7.09; P = 0.034) were independent factors predicting cancer-specific survival in EC patients (Table 2).