In addition, although intercellular communication between tumour cells and the CXCL12/CXCR4 signalling pathway has been widely studied in tumour chemotactic and metastatic processes in many cancer types, few studies have focused on the effect of NPM1 in CXCL12-mediated HCC chemotaxis and migration. This evidence concerns the gene CXCL12 and hepatocellular carcinoma.