CCL2 and cancer: One possible explanation could be the paracrine interaction with tumor cells as CAF are known to produce ECM and release inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-8 and several chemokines, among them CCL2/MCP1, CXCL12/SDF1, CCL5 and 7 as well as CXCL16, by which they can promote cancer cell migration [27].