Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals officially retracts the article entitled, “Downregulation of Long Noncoding RNA HOTAIR and EZH2 Induces Apoptosis and Inhibits Proliferation, Invasion, and Migration of Human Breast Cancer Cells” by Lu Han, Hai-Chao Zhang, Li Li, Cai-Xia Li, Xu Di, and Xin Qu (Cancer Biother Radiopharm. 2018;33(6);241–251; doi: 10.1089/cbr.2017.2432) due to inconsistencies in some of the images in the article. These inconsistencies were originally questioned in a comment on the PubPeer platform in 20201 but were then reported as being part of a large paper mill in September 2021.2
The corresponding author, Dr. Lu Han, did not respond to requests for the raw data as it pertained to the work for further examination.
Submission of manuscripts from a paper mill is a violation of the journal's standard protocols and is considered an infraction against the rigorous standards of scientific publishing.
The Editor and Publisher of Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals are committed to preserving the scientific literature and the community it serves and does not tolerate any misconduct.
References
- 1. PubPeer. https://pubpeer.com/publications/63EE8FBAB07C8B0F8AEC1A1EABC66F Last accessed October 4, 2021.
- 2. Smut C. The scientific sea of miR- and exosome-related knowledge. For Better Science. Sept 22, 2021; https://forbetterscience.com/2021/09/22/the-scientific-sea-of-mir-and-exosome-related-knowledge/ Last accessed October 4, 2021.