Then, we performed a targeted gene screen to identify potential miR‐143‐3p targets that may be associated with human cancer, resulting in 12 candidate genes (ASAP3, NUAK2, ZEB1, CTNND1, KRAS, FRS2, KLF5, HK2, MAPK7, LASP1, MSI2 and DNMT3A) being selected for further investigation. Here, NUAK2 is linked to cancer.