β-Catenin Promotes Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion but Induces Apoptosis in Renal Cell Carcinoma [Retraction]

Yang CM, Ji S, Li Y, Fu LY, Jiang T, Meng FD. Onco Targets Ther. 2017;10:711—724. https://doi.org/10.2147/OTT.S117933

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 2025 about the integrity of the data in Figures 3, 4, 6 and S2 of the article.

Further investigation conducted by the Journal and Publisher confirmed unusual similarities present in the image panels representative of different treatment conditions in Figures 4, 6 and S2. Unexpected overlaps were identified between the flow cytometry plots shown in Figure 3 of the article and Figure 8 of the following previous publication from an unrelated author group:

Yang N, Fu Y, Zhang H, Sima H, Zhu N, Yang G. LincRNA-p21 activates endoplasmic reticulum stress and inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma. Oncotarget. 2015;6:28151-28163. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.4661

Upon further review, the Journal and Publisher identified additional image integrity concerns present in Figure S1E due to unexpected overlaps with Figure 3B of the following previous publication from an unrelated author group:

Wu J, Wang Z. Osteopontin improves adhesion and migration of human primary renal cortical epithelial cells during wound healing. Oncol Lett. 2016;12(6):4556-4560. doi: 10.3892/ol.2016.5219.

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The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.