HOTAIR has been reported to potentially function as a predictive marker for the metastasis of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma: with studies linking its elevated expression with poor prognoses.30 It has been reported that the up‐regulation of HOXC8 was observed in a variety of cancer types.31 Additionally, a previous study asserted that patients with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma exhibiting high HOXC8 expression levels had shorter median survival time when compared to those with poor levels of HOXC8 expression.32 This evidence concerns the gene HOXC8 and cancer.