Abstract
Gao D-Z, Yang Y-S, Wang Z, Zhao X-F. Expression profile and prognostic significance of HOXB13 in rectal cancer. Int. J. Biol. Markers 2022; 37: 140-148. doi:10.1177/17246008221076151
The author would like to alert the readers about the following changes in the above-mentioned published article:
Dear Readers,
We are sorry to inform you that the Figure 1(b) (bands of HOXC9 and 18S) were used by mistake. The results of these two bands were in fact from gastric cancer tissue and paracancer normal tissue instead of rectum. However, this study aimed to investigate the expression pattern and prognostic significance of HOXB13 in rectal cancer and we have demonstrated the overexpression of HOXB13 in human rectal cancer tissues than those in the normal adjacent tissues via GEPIA database and immunohistochemistry assay. So, the misuse of the Figure 1(b) (or better, of the portion of a figure) did not compromise reliability of our findings and the conclusion of our study remain unquestionable. Thus, in order not to misguide readers or provide false/wrong information for them, we published this correction notice after consulting the Editor in Chief of IJBM. In this correction, the original Figure 1(b) and (c) were deleted and only Figure 1(a) is saved in Figure 1. Meanwhile, the first part of the results was also deleted and the contents from the second part of the results were amended as follows:
“Expression levels of HOXB13 mRNA and protein in RC and noncancerous tissues
GEPIA results showed that the expression of HOXB13 mRNA was higher than in their matched non-malignant tissues (Figure 1). HOXB13 protein expression in RC and non-tumor tissues were also examined by IHC. RC tissues showed significantly higher levels of the HOXB13 protein than their paired normal mucosa tissues. This result indicated that an increase of HOXB13 protein might facilitate tumorigenesis in RC. HOXB13 was predominantly presented in the cell nucleus in RC cells (Figure 2(a)). Furthermore, the positive rate of HOXB13 expression levels increased as the stage became advanced, with stage IV CRCs being the highest and stage I CRCs the lowest (Figure 2(b)).”