CXCL12 and cancer: The analysis identified four CAF subpopulations in LN. Two had a myCAF gene expression pattern, CAF-S1 and CAF-S4, accumulated in LN and correlated with cancer cell invasion. CAF-S1 stimulated cancer cell migration by stimulating EMT, through CXCL12 and TGFβ signaling. CAF-S4 induced cancer cell invasion through Notch signaling. Patients with a high ratio of CAF-S4 cells were prone to develop late distant metastases.