SMAD7 and cancer: The SMAD7-mediated negative feedback loop is essential in preventing abnormal activation of the TGF-β signaling and its dysfunction facilitates cancer metastasis.5,23,31,32 SMAD7 is usually downregulated in tumor cells by extracellular and intracellular perturbations, such as UV irradiation, inflammation, and dysregulation of miRNAs targeting SMAD7.31,33–36 Here, we identified a novel positive feedback loop that was mediated by lncRNA and showed that lnc-UTGF could promote the TGF-β/SMAD signaling and in turn hepatoma metastasis.