NEAT1 and neoplasm: NEAT1 exerts its carcinogenic effects through three main mechanisms: it acts as a miRNA sponge to antagonize the interactions between tumor suppressor miRNAs and target mRNAs [18, 28]; it acts as a scaffold, binding with EZH2 to promote the expression of downstream genes of EZH2 [2]; and it promotes DNA methylation by inhibiting the expression of miR-129 [11].