miR-218 Overexpression Suppresses Tumorigenesis of Papillary Thyroid Cancer via Inactivation of PTEN /PI3K/AKT Pathway by Targeting Runx2 [Retraction]

Han M, Chen L, Wang Y. Onco Targets Ther. 2018;11:6305—6316. https://doi.org/10.2147/OTT.S172152

We, the Editors and Publisher of the journal OncoTargets and Therapy, have retracted the published article.

After publication, concerns have been raised by a third party in 2021 and 2025 about the integrity of the data in Figure 3 of the article.

Further investigation conducted by the Journal and Publisher confirmed the following:

• •Unusual similarities within the image panels in Figure 3C, and between the image panels in Figure 3C and 3D that representative of different samples.
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  Unexpected similarities between the Western blots shown in Figure 2C and the flow cytometry plots in Figure 3E and Figure 3F of the article, and the following articles that are representative of different samples and treatment conditions. These articles are from unrelated author groups, and were published contemporaneously:

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    Jiang Y, Wang Y, Liang L, et al. IL-37 mediates the antitumor activity in renal cell carcinoma. Med Oncol. 2015;32:250. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-015-0695-7
  • -
    Liu L, Ren W, Chen K. MiR-34a Promotes Apoptosis and Inhibits Autophagy by Targeting HMGB1 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells. Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry. 2017;41 (5):1981–1992. https://doi.org/10.1159/000475277
  • -
    Li Y, Wu D, Wang P, Li X, Shi G. miR-195 Regulates Proliferation and Apoptosis through Inhibiting the mTOR/p70s6k Signaling Pathway by Targeting HMGA2 in Esophageal Carcinoma Cells. Disease Markers. 2017;8317913:9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/8317913
  • -
    Wang B, Ge Z, Cheng Z, Zhao Z. Tanshinone IIA suppresses the progression of atherosclerosis by inhibiting the apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells and the proliferation and migration of macrophages induced by ox-LDL. Biol Open. 2017;6(4): 489–495. https://doi.org/10.1242/bio.024133
  • -
    Liu Q, Liu H, Cheng HP, Li Y, Li XD, Zhu CY. Downregulation of long noncoding RNA TUG1 inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis through the TUG1/miR-142/ZEB2 axis in bladder cancer cells. Onco Targets Ther. 2017;10:2461-2471. https://doi.org/10.2147/OTT.S124595
  • -
    Sun Z, Zhang W, Li Q. miR-125a suppresses viability and glycolysis and induces apoptosis by targeting Hexokinase 2 in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Cell Biosci. 2017;7:51. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13578-017-0178-y
  • -
    Liu Q, Li Y, Lv W, et al. UCA1 promotes cell proliferation and invasion and inhibits apoptosis through regulation of the miR129–SOX4 pathway in renal cell carcinoma. Onco Targets Ther. 2018;11:2475-2487. https://doi.org/10.2147/OTT.S160192

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  Unexpected similarities in the Western blot data between Figure 7E of the article and the following previously published article by an unrelated author group:

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    Yang W, Hong L, Xu X, Wang Q, Huang J, Jiang L. LncRNA GAS5 suppresses the tumorigenesis of cervical cancer by downregulating miR-196a and miR-205. Tumor Biology. 2017;39(7). https://doi.org/10.1177/1010428317711315
• -Unexpected similarities in the Western blot data between Figures 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the article.

When approached for an explanation, the authors did not respond to the queries raised by the Journal and Publisher.

As verifying the validity of published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article. The corresponding author listed in this publication has been informed.

We have been informed in our decision-making by our editorial policies and the COPE guidelines.

The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.