Pearson χ2 analysis showed that positive GRO-α expression in the cytoplasm of cancer cells was inversely correlated with tumor location (P = 0.047), but positively correlated with T classification (P = 0.001), distant metastasis (P < 0.001), and TNM stage (P < 0.001, Fig. 3). This evidence concerns the gene CXCL1 and cancer.