CXCL12 is an alpha-chemokine ligand specific for the CXCR4 receptor, and the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis was found to be activated by cancer-associated fibroblasts to promote epithelial–mesenchymal transition and cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer (Zhang et al. 2020). Here, CXCL12 is linked to ovarian carcinoma.