In epithelial ovarian cancer, the elevated expression of STAT4 in epithelial cells induced MSCs derived from adipose and bone marrow to obtain CAF-like features, which in turn promoted EMT and peritoneal metastasis of ovarian cancer by secreting CXCL12, IL-6 and VEGF-A (24). This evidence concerns the gene CXCL12 and ovarian carcinoma.