HOTAIR and cancer: HCC has become one of the leading causes of cancer patients for the poor prognosis, especially patients at advanced clinical stage.[1,2] A growing number of researchers begin to seek appropriate biomarkers to serve as diagnostic indicators and potential therapeutic targets for HCC with the hope of improving the prognosis of patients with HCC.[3–6] Recently, increasing evidences showed that HOTAIR, a lncRNA, was significantly associated with the tumor genesis, progression, and metastasis of HCC via different underlying mechanisms.