Although previous studies reported that miR-1224-5p suppressed tumour metastasis by targeting FAK in intestinal-type gastric cancer, and inhibited the proliferation and invasion of glioma cells by targeting CREB1 (refs. 6,9), the roles and underlying mechanisms of miR-1224-5p in oesophageal cancer and other types of cancer are still largely unclear. The gene discussed is PTK2; the disease is central nervous system cancer.