To investigate the role of m6A modification in breast cancers, we systematically analyzed the transcriptomic profiles of 111 breast tumors and 12 non-tumorous (NT) breast tissues (GSE9014, Additional file 2: Figure S1A), and identified that FTO, the core m6A demethylase, was significantly up-regulated in breast tumors compared with normal tissue (Fig. 1a and b). Here, FTO is linked to breast cancer.