Liu J, Li D, Zhang X, Li Y, Ou J. Onco Targets Ther. 2020;13:11957–11973.
We, the Editors and Publisher of OncoTargets and Therapy, have retracted the published article.
Since publication, concerns have been raised about the integrity of the data in the article. This includes the duplication of images within the article with those from other articles. Specifically,
The image from 5C, SiHa, sh-KDM3A+oe-NC, has been duplicated with the image for Figure 6C, ADR (55µg/ml), NC, from Xia W, Liu Y, Du Y, Cheng T, Hu X, Li X. MicroRNA-423 Drug Resistance and Proliferation of Breast Cancer Cells by Targeting ZFP36. Onco Targets Ther. 2020;13:769–782. https://doi.org/10.2147/OTT.S217745 [Retracted]
The image from Figure 8B, Hela, sh-KDM3A+DMSO, has been duplicated with the image from Figure 2B, hFOB1.19 cells, 48 h, from Zhang C, Ma K, Li WY. IL-6 Promotes Cancer Stemness and Oncogenicity in U2OS and MG-63 Osteosarcoma Cells by Upregulating the OPN-STAT3 Pathway. Journal of Cancer. 2019;10(26):6511–6525. https://doi.org/10.7150/jca.29931 and Figure 2J, Inhibitors, from Ouyang Y, Tang Y, Fu L, et al. Exosomes secreted by chronic hepatitis B patients with PNALT and liver inflammation grade ≥ A2 promoted the progression of liver cancer by transferring miR-25-3p to inhibit the co-expression of TCF21 and HHIP. Cell Prolif. 2020;53:e12833. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpr.12833
When approached for an explanation, the authors did not respond to our queries, nor did they provide original data for their study. As verifying the validity of the published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article and the authors were notified of this.
We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions.
The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.