Editorial Expression of Concern: Bdnf and Its Signaling in Cancer(Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, (2023), 149, (2621–2636), 10.1007/S00432-022-04365-8) Publisher Pubmed



Malekan M ; Nezamabadi S S ; Samami E ; Mohebalizadeh M ; Saghazadeh A ; Rezaei N
Source: Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology Published:2026

Abstract

The Editor-in-Chief would like to alert readers that there are concerns related to this article. Concerns have been raised regarding nine references in the publication that were subsequently retracted, five of which had already been retracted at the time of submission. Specifically: ● Aili A, Chen Y, Zhang H (2016) MicroRNA-10b suppresses the migration and invasion of chondrosarcoma cells by targeting brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Mol Med Rep 13(1):441–446. ● Song Y et al. (2019) MicroRNA-584 prohibits hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation and invasion by directly targeting BDNF. Mol Med Rep 20(2):1994–2001. ● Sun Z et al. (2019) Long non-coding RNA LINC00152 promotes cell growth and invasion of papillary thyroid carcinoma by regulating the miR-497/BDNF axis. J Cell Physiol 234(2):1336–1345.● Wang P et al. (2017) MicroRNA-497 inhibits thyroid cancer tumor growth and invasion by suppressing BDNF. Oncotarget 8(2):2825. ● Wei J et al. (2020) CircHIPK3 promotes cell proliferation and migration of gastric cancer by sponging mir- 107 and regulating bdnf expression. Onco Targets Ther 13:1613–1624. ● Xia H, Li Y, Lv X (2016a) MicroRNA-107 inhibits tumor growth and metastasis by targeting the BDNFmediated PI3K/AKT pathway in human non-small lung cancer. Int J Oncol 49(4):1325–1333. ● Xu AJ et al. (2017a) MicroRNA-744 inhibits tumor cell proliferation and invasion of gastric cancer via targeting brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Mol Med Rep 16(4):5055–5061. ● Yue X, Wang Z (2020) Long intergenic non-coding RNA LINC00922 aggravates the malignant phenotype of breast cancer by regulating the microRNA-424-5p/ BDNF axis. Cancer Manag Res 12:7539–7552. ● Zhang X et al. (2018a) HOXA3 promotes tumor growth of human colon cancer through activating EGFR/Ras Raf/MEK/ERK signaling pathway. J Cell Biochem 119(3):2864–2874. The authors have stated that eight of the nine retracted references appear exclusively in Table 2, which was constructed as a descriptive aggregation of reported microRNA–BDNF/ TrkB associations identified through a broad literature search strategy. These references were not used as critical evidence supporting the central conclusions of the review. Only one retracted reference appeared in the main text, and the statement it supported is well-established and independently validated by multiple non-retracted sources. The authors also stated that this article was drafted in 2021, just a few months before submission, when none of the cited papers had yet been retracted. Readers are advised to interpret the details of this article with caution. The authors agree with this Editorial Expression of Concern. © The Author(s) 2026.