Previous research has indicated that the CXC chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) is highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues, and that these cells preferentially metastasise to organs and tissues with high levels of CXCR4 ligand stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF1) expression (Wang et al., 2018). This evidence concerns the gene CXCL12 and hepatocellular carcinoma.