HOTTIP and hepatocellular carcinoma: Similar to our study, multiple studies have revealed that some lncRNAs, such as lncRNA HULC, RERT and HOTTIP/HOXA13, are downregulated in HCC, which were closely associated with tumorigenesis, metastasis, diagnosis, prognosis, and drug resistance [22, 26, 27], implying that these studies opened up a new avenue for figuring out the molecular mechanisms for occurrence and development of HCC.