Oncol Rep 18: [Related article:] 817–824, 2007; DOI:
10.3892/or.18.4.817
Subsequently to the publication of the above
article, a concerned reader drew to the Editor's attention that the
tubulin control blots featured in Fig. 1C on p. 819 were also
apparently included as control blots in Fig. 5 of a paper published
previously by the same research group in the journal
Oncology, albeit the experimental conditions were reported
to be different. In addition, concerning the western blots shown in
Fig. 1C, there appeared to be the duplication of a pair of control
protein bands where the respective lanes of the gel were labelled
differently, and the bands for the T2 experiment were strikingly
similar to those featured as the MKN45 bands, although turned
through 180°, suggesting that this figure may have potentially
undergone inappropriate editing.
After having evaluated these data independently in
the Editorial Office, the concerns of the reader were shown to be
well founded. Therefore, in view of the uncertainties regarding the
assembly of the western blot data in Fig. 1C, the Editor of
Oncology Reports has decided that this paper should be
retracted from the Journal on account of a lack of confidence in
the presented data. The authors were asked for an explanation to
account for these concerns, but the Editorial Office did not
receive a reply. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any
inconvenience caused.
