Consistent with the in vitro cell lines results, expression of lncTCFL5-2 is higher in RCC tissues than in the normal tissues as well as YBX1 and SOX2 (Fig. 6B), and there is a lower AR expression in RCC tissues compared to the normal tissues (Fig. 6C), consistent with a negative correlation trend between AR and lncTCFL5-2 and a positive correlation trend between SOX2 and YBX1 or lncTCFL5-2 (Fig. 6C, Additional file 1: Fig. S4B). Here, SOX2 is linked to renal cell carcinoma.