MALAT1, also known as nuclear-enriched abundant transcript-2 (NEAT2), is a highly abundant and conserved nuclear lncRNA16 that was originally identified as a prognostic marker for the survival of patients with stage I lung cancer17 but has since been shown to play an important role in the carcinogenesis and metastasis of various cancers, including liver, prostate, colorectal and gallbladder cancer18–21. This evidence concerns the gene MALAT1 and cancer.