Studies have found that XIST can act as the sponge molecule of miR-34a to participate in ceRNAs in thyroid carcinoma cells and further inhibit the growth of thyroid cancer cells via its downstream signal pathway MET (hepatocyte growth factor receptor)-PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase)-AKT (α-serine/threonine-protein kinase) signal pathway (Liu et al., 2018). This evidence concerns the gene AKT1 and thyroid cancer.