Using lncRNA microarray analysis, we subjected SW839 cells, a VHL-mutant RCC cell line, to hypoxia (1% oxygen level for 24 h) and carried out a comparative analysis of the expression of 40,000 lncRNAs and found the expression of nearly 7000 lncRNAs was increased, with a reduction of expression of nearly 13,000 lncRNAs in response to hypoxia with a subset of lncRNAs that showed more than two fold difference in expression (Fig. 2A and Additional file 1: Fig. S2A). This evidence concerns the gene VHL and renal cell carcinoma.