Consistently, octamer-binding protein 4 (OCT4), SRY-box 2 (SOX2), and nanog homeobox (NANOG), which are transcription factors that are upregulated in various types of cancer and are involved in cancer stemness maintenance, were upregulated at both the mRNA and protein levels in FOXD2-AS1-overexpressing LSCC cells, but were downregulated in FOXD2-AS1-silenced cells, compared with those in the control (Fig. 4d, e). Here, SOX2 is linked to cancer.