EXPRESSION OF CONCERN: Long Non-coding RNA Urothelial Cancer-associated 1 Promotes Bladder Cancer Cell Migration and Invasion byWay of the hsa-miR-145–ZEB1/2–FSCN1 Pathway - issued to alert readers

Sep 30, 2026

Upload by Rowan

Expression of Concern is issued for a Cancer Science article titled “Long Non-coding RNA Urothelial Cancer-associated 1 Promotes Bladder Cancer Cell Migration and Invasion by Way of the hsa-miR-145–ZEB1/2–FSCN1 Pathway,” published online 06 November 2015. The journal cites multiple instances of image duplication across Figures 3b, 3f, and 3g and images in another paper, plus atypically clean western blot backgrounds in Figures 2c, 2e, 4f, and 5g. As authors did not respond, image authenticity and validity could not be verified, prompting the alert to readers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Expression of Concern

Article identification and citation

Reasons for concern (image duplication and western blot backgrounds)

Lack of author response and verification limits

Publication and licensing notice

Cancer Science EXPRESSION OF CONCERN OPEN ACCESS EXPRESSION OF CONCERN: Long Non-coding RNA Urothelial Cancer-associated 1 Promotes Bladder Cancer Cell Migration and Invasion byWay of the hsa-miR-145–ZEB1/2–FSCN1 Pathway EXPRESSION OF CONCERN: M. Xue, H. Pang, X. Li, H. Li, J. Pan and W. Chen, “Long Non-coding RNA Urothelial Cancerassociated 1 Promotes Bladder Cancer Cell Migration and Invasion by Way of the hsa-miR-145–ZEB1/2–FSCN1 Pathway,” Cancer Science 107, no. 1 (2016): 18–27, [https://doi.org/10.1111/cas.12844](https://doi.org/10.1111/cas.12844) . This Expression of Concern is for the above article, published online on 06 November 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlin[elibrary.com](elibrary.com)), and has been issued by agreement between the journal Editor-in-Chief, Masanori Hatakeyama; the Japanese Cancer Association; and John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd. The Expression of Concern has been agreed upon due to several instances of image duplication identified between Figures 3b, 3f and 3 g of this article and images published in another paper by a different group of authors. These duplicated images were used to represent different scientific contexts. Although this article was published earlier, the authors did not respond to requests for comments or original data, therefore the authenticity of the images could not be verified. Furthermore, concerns were raised regarding Figures 2c, 2e, 4f and 5 g, where the western blot backgrounds appear unusually clean, deviating from typical experimental results. Due to the nature of these concerns and the absence of author response, the journal has decided to issue an Expression of Concern to inform and alert readers. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2025 The Author(s). Cancer Science published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association. 280 Cancer Science, 2026; 117:280 [https://doi.org/10.1111/cas.70241](https://doi.org/10.1111/cas.70241)

FAQs

What article is the Expression of Concern related to?

It concerns the Cancer Science article on long non-coding RNA Urothelial Cancer-associated 1 promoting bladder cancer cell migration and invasion via the hsa-miR-145–ZEB1/2–FSCN1 pathway.

What specific issues prompted the concern?

The notice cites image duplication between Figures 3b, 3f, and 3g and images from another paper, and it also flags unusually clean western blot backgrounds in Figures 2c, 2e, 4f, and 5g.

Why could the journal not verify the authenticity of the images?

The authors did not respond to requests for comments or original data, so the authenticity of the images could not be verified.

Sep 30, 2026

Upload by Rowan