Int J Oncol 45: [Related article:] 351-361, 2014; DOI:
10.3892/ijo.2014.2416
Following the publication of the above article, a
concerned reader drew to the Editor's attention that, regarding the
immunohistochemical staining experiments shown in Fig. 2, the
insets for the data panels 2A and B, and 2C and D, respectively
were remarkably similar, such that these data may not have
consistently been identifiable with the main images proper for
these figure parts. Secondly, with the western blot data shown in
Fig. 3c, the PTCH1/Huh7 and ATAD2/siRNA-HCCLM3 protein bands were
remarkably similar, such that the same data were likely to have
been duplicated in the figure where different experiments were
intended to have been portrayed. Finally, the two sets of flow
cytometric plots shown in Fig. 2A appeared to show similar
groupings of dots, which would not have been anticipated if these
experiments had been performed discretely under different
experimental conditions, suggesting a fundamental flaw either in
the way in which these experiments were performed, or in how the
results were outputted.
After having conducted an internal investigation of
the data in this paper, the Editor of International Journal of
Oncology has decided that this article should be retracted from
the journal on the grounds of an overall lack of confidence in the
data. The authors were asked for an explanation to account for
these concerns, but the Editorial Office did not receive a reply.
The Editor sincerely apologizes to the readership for any
inconvenience caused, and we thank the reader for bringing this
matter to our attention.
