Hsa_circRNA_000166 Promotes Cell Proliferation, Migration and Invasion by Regulating miR-330-5p/ELK1 in Colon Cancer [Retraction]

Zhao G, Dai GJ. Onco Targets Ther. 2020;13:5529-5539.

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

Following publication of the article, concerns were raised about the duplication of images from Figures 4 with images from other unrelated articles. Specifically,

• Images for Figure 4D have been duplicated with images for Figures 4E from Zhang Y, Yang Y, Zhang Y, Liu Z. lncRNA ST8SIA6‑AS1 facilitates proliferation and invasion in liver cancer by regulating miR‑142‑3p. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine. 2021;22:1348. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2021.10783 and Li M, Song SW, Ge Y, Jin JY, Li XY, Tan XD. The Ras-ERK signaling pathway regulates acetylated activating transcription factor 2 via p300 in pancreatic cancer cells. Ann Transl Med. 2020;8(19):1234. https://doi.org/10.21037/atm-20-5880.

The authors did not respond to our queries and were unable to provide an explanation for the duplicated images or provide data for the study. As verifying the validity of 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 editorial policies and COPE guidelines.

The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.