In a later study OPN from cancer cells was found to stimulate the CAF myofibroblastic phenotype via ERK and Akt pathways that induced Twist1-dependent gene expression, leading to CXCL12 secretion, which ultimately promoted epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer cells (Butti et al. 2021). This evidence concerns the gene CXCL12 and cancer.