In contrast to miR-7 expression, the relative expression levels of XIST, RELA, CD44, slug, and ESA were significantly higher in breast cancer tissues than in adjacent noncancerous tissues (p = 0.0486, p = 0.038, p = 0.0297, p = 0.0420, and p = 0.0434, respectively) (Fig. 1a). Here, CD44 is linked to breast cancer.