EXPRESSION OF CONCERN: Discovery of a Novel Viroid-Like Circular RNA in Colorectal Cancer

Wu M, Li W, Hu N, Liu C, Li J, Li Y, et al. Discovery of a Novel Viroid-Like Circular RNA in Colorectal Cancer. Cancer Commun. 2025;45(1):46-50. doi: 10.1002/cac2.12626.

This Expression of Concern is for the above article, published online on 09 November 2024 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), and has been issued by agreement between the journal Editor-in-Chief, Rui-Hua Xu; Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center; and John Wiley & Sons Australia. The Expression of Concern has been agreed upon following information provided by a third party regarding the identification of the CRC-associated viroid. The authors reported this viroid-like circRNA as absent from the human genome based on the hg38 reference. However, the sequence is present at chromosome13:96543662-96543775 in the more complete T2T human genome reference, indicating it is not an exogenous RNA element. The authors have acknowledged the need for further investigation, particularly in light of the discrepancies from the difference between the hg38 and T2T human genomes. The editors have decided to issue this Expression of Concern to alert readers as further investigations proceed.