Firstly, while the A549 cell line serves as a well-characterized experimental model for mechanistic interrogation, expanding investigations to other molecularly distinct NSCLC cell lines (e.g., squamous cell carcinoma H1703, EGFR-mutant PC-9, and KRAS-driven H358) is imperative to assess the pan-subtype relevance of the circ-MBOAT2/miR-664b-3p/TLK1 regulatory axis in NSCLC pathogenesis. Here, TLK1 is linked to squamous cell carcinoma.