The common sites for metastatic spread are bone, lung and liver. 3,4 Usually, the 5-year survival rate of advanced breast cancer is only 20%. 5 Metastasis and recurrence have become major obstacles to the survival of breast cancer patients. Therefore, screening and identification of the regulatory molecules closely related to the invasion and metastasis and exploring the molecular mechanisms are of great significance for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Haematological and neurological expressed 1-like (HN1L) belongs to the haematological and neurological expressed 1 (HN1) family. 6 The human HN1L gene, also known as L11, encodes a 190-aa protein. Previous reports showed that the expression of HN1 was up-regulated in prostate adenocarcinomas. 7,8 Moreover, HN1 could distinguish human ovarian carcinoma from healthy ovarian epithelial tissue. 9 Besides, HN1 negatively influenced the β-catenin/E-cadherin interaction, and contributed to migration in prostate cells. 10 HN1 also contributed to the migration, invasion and tumorigenesis of breast cancer by enhancing MYC activity. 11 However, not much is known