In vivo results showed that the down‐regulation of miR‐497 in U87‐TR cells significantly increases TUNEL staining and decreases Ki‐67 immunoreactivity, which is indicative of the apoptosis and reduced cellular proliferation within tumors, leading to a much better TMZ treatment effect on glioma xenograft tumor growth than control group. The gene discussed is MKI67; the disease is glioma.