At 12 h treatment (Additional File 9, Figure S8), gefitinib induced the expression of HDAC5, a growth inhibitory tumor suppressor and pro-apoptotic factor [35], in Hec50co cells, while regulators of cell migration and morphogenesis such as GIT1 and CALD1 were down-regulated by gefitinib. Here, HDAC5 is linked to neoplasm.