Frontiers Retracts Corrigendum on ABTL0812 in Glioblastoma Over Image Concerns

Frontiers in Oncology has retracted a 2025 corrigendum concerning the anticancer effects of ABTL0812, a clinical-stage drug candidate described as an inducer of autophagy-mediated cancer cell death in glioblastoma models. The retraction notice, published on 27 October 2026, formally withdraws the correction article from the scientific record.

The retracted piece was a corrigendum by Mancini A, Colapietro A, Cristiano L, Rossetti A, Mattei V, Gravina GL, Perez-Montoyo H, Yeste-Velasco M, Alfon J, Domenech C and Festuccia C, published on 22 January 2025 in Frontiers in Oncology under the title “Corrigendum: Anticancer effects of ABTL0812, a clinical stage drug inducer of autophagy-mediated cancer cell death, in glioblastoma models” (Front. Oncol. 15:1538834, doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1538834).

According to the retraction notice, concerns were raised after publication regarding the integrity of the images in the published figures. During an investigation conducted in accordance with Frontiers’ policies, the authors failed to provide a satisfactory explanation. On that basis, the journal retracted the 22 January 2025 article.

The retraction was approved by the Chief Editors of Frontiers in Pharmacology and the Chief Executive Editor of Frontiers. The authors received a communication regarding the retraction and were given a chance to respond, and this communication has been recorded by the publisher.

Frontiers also acknowledged Sholto David for contacting the journal regarding the published article, crediting the external report that prompted the integrity review.

The notice was received and accepted on 8 October 2026 and published on 27 October 2026, appearing in Volume 16 of the journal under the section Cancer Cell Signaling. It was approved by the Frontiers Editorial Office of Frontiers Media SA, Switzerland, and carries the citation Front. Oncol. 16:2021926, doi: 10.3389/fonc.2026.2021926.

The retraction notice itself is an editorial statement from the Frontiers Editorial Office and contains no new experimental findings. It does not describe the specific images concerned, the nature of the concerns, or any conclusions about the underlying research data beyond the stated failure of the authors to satisfactorily explain the image integrity issues.

Readers should note that the retracted item was itself a correction article, not the original research paper on ABTL0812. The notice identifies only the corrigendum as retracted and does not state in this text what action, if any, has been taken regarding the original article the corrigendum amended.

The article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), and correspondence regarding the notice is directed to the Frontiers Editorial Office at research.integrity@frontiersin.org. The publisher’s standard disclaimer states that all claims expressed in the article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of affiliated organizations, the publisher, the editors or the reviewers.

Subject of Research: Retraction of a corrigendum on the anticancer drug candidate ABTL0812 in glioblastoma models due to image integrity concerns

Article Title: Retraction: Corrigendum: Anticancer effects of ABTL0812, a clinical stage drug inducer of autophagy-mediated cancer cell death, in glioblastoma models

Article References: Frontiers Editorial Office (2026). Retraction: Corrigendum: Anticancer effects of ABTL0812, a clinical stage drug inducer of autophagy-mediated cancer cell death, in glioblastoma models. Frontiers in Oncology, 16, Article 2021926. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2026.2021926

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2026.2021926

Keywords: retraction, Frontiers in Oncology, ABTL0812, glioblastoma, autophagy, image integrity, corrigendum, research integrity, cancer research, publication ethics, Anticancer, effects