Consistent with the observations that Bmi1 is essential in Twist1-induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition through repressed expression of E-cadherin in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma [30], our study found that miR-128-3p positively regulated E-cadherin expression in CRC cells through binding the Bmi1 3`-UTR. Here, BMI1 is linked to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.