Li Y, Wang Q, Wang D, Fu W. Cancer Manag Res. 2021;13:5547–5557.
At the authors request, the Editor and Publisher of Cancer Management and Research wish to retract the published article. Concerns were raised regarding the alleged duplication of western blot and flow cytometry images in Figures 2 and 3 with comparable images from Liu et al, 2021 (https://www.ijbs.com/v17p3401.htm). Specifically,
Figures 2B and 2D, AGS and HGC27, β-actin bands, appear to show unexpected similarities with comparable images from Figure 2H, BCPAP and K1, β-actin bands, respectively, from Liu et al, 2021.
Figure 3C, AGS, siKLF7-2, appears to show unexpected similarities with a comparable image from Figure 3C, BCPAP, shMARCH6#2 from Liu et al, 2021.
The authors were unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for the alleged duplication, nor were they able to provide supporting information that would verify the integrity of the published findings. The Editor determined that the reported findings were unreliable and agreed to the authors retraction request.
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The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.