In mammals, lincRNAs are associated with various cancers, including prostate cancer16, breast cancer18, colorectal cancer20, 21, ovarian cancer22, and bladder cancer24, and also associated with disease progression, for example, the HOTAIR (HOX transcript antisense RNA) is highly expressed in the breast cancer and is a predictor for metastasis formation39, indicating that lincRNAs could be applied to the prediction and treatment of cancers. The gene discussed is HOTAIR; the disease is breast cancer.