NOVA1 is expressed in central nervous system and can bind to the YCAY motif through its KH domain, thereby modulating alternative splicing.22, 23, 24 Growing evidence suggested that NOVA1 was deregulated in several tumours such as gastric cancer (GC), astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and lymphomas.21, 25, 26, 27 For example, Zhang et al28 demonstrated that overexpression of NOVA1 increased the HCC growth and retro‐regulated GABAARγ2 and GABA expression. This evidence concerns the gene NOVA1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.