FOXM1 and pterygium: The present study increased the understanding of the ceRNA-associated regulatory mechanism in the pterygium and identified LINC00472 as a key lncRNA in the whole ceRNA network, which might be highly related to pterygium via the FOXM1 PATHWAY in the LINC00472 network, especially by regulating its related 6 hub genes (CCNB1, MYC, ERBB4, RELN, RB1, and CDH2).