Top New York surgeon exposed for using ‘suspicious data’ in cancer treatment trials since 2008
A top cancer surgeon at Columbia University is under fire for publishing numerous studies with “suspicious data.”
Dr. Sam S. Yoon reused images of tumor-stricken mice in a 2021 study from his 2020 study — and the paper was “quietly” retracted this month.
The article in question claimed to describe a new drug that reduced the growth of stomach cancer, and the images of the mice were merely rotated to look slightly different.
However, reports claim that the 2021 study was just the tip of the iceberg: Yoon has reprocessed work in 26 studies since 2008.
Dr. Sam S. Yoon, who works at the medical center, reused images of tumor-stricken mice from his 2020 study in a 2021 study — and the paper was ‘quietly’ retracted this month
DailyMail.com has contacted Yoon for comment.
Yoon graduated from Harvard University and then attended the University of California San Diego to obtain his medical degree.
He is currently chief of surgical oncology at Columbia University in New York City.
According to Columbia University’s website, Yoon’s lab “has been funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute for 18 years.”
The latest cancer study was retracted a few months after publication due to an investigation by the New York Times.
The study, “PI3K/Akt pathway and Nanog preserve cancer stem cells in sarcomas,” was co-authored by researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the University of Pennsylvania and Fujian Medical University Union Hospital.
The article in question (left) claimed to describe a new drug that reduced the growth of stomach cancer, and the images of the mice were merely rotated to look slightly different.
The images of the cancer-riddled mice used in the 2021 article first appeared in the 2020 study (photo)
The images of the cancer-riddled mice used in the 2021 article first appeared in the study: ‘ERK1/2-Nanog signaling pathway enhances CD44(+) cancer stem-like cell phenotypes and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in squamous cells of head and neck. carcinomas’ – published a year earlier.
Both articles discuss possible treatments for stomach cancer and the use of the same subject images suggests that the work is flawed.
The 2021 article, co-authored by Changhwan Yoon, was published by Elsevier, which did not share an explanation for the article’s retraction.
However, the publisher said: ‘The editors determined that the article violated the ethical guidelines for journal publishing.’ The decision could have been not to draw attention to the surgeon who is highly respected in his field.
Elsevier claimed that the editors informed researchers of the removal, but that the authors did not share the news with Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Molecular biologist Sholto David first sounded the alarm about Yoon’s work last year after discovering that the surgeon collaborated with a Rolodex of researchers on the 26 articles containing the repetitive cancer cell and tumor images.
David analyzed each of the papers using AI-powered detection tools to spot misleading data within the documents.
Harvard Medical Center, University of California – Los Angeles, Howard University and Penn Medicine are among the top universities in the US and are where many of the researchers involved in Yoon’s research are affiliated.
Also on the list are experts from Mount Sinai Health System, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Georgetown and Duke University.
It is unclear whether the other researchers named on the papers were aware of the recycled information.
Other images used different color intensities to look different from previous publications. The right image was used in 2021 and the left in 2018. According to David’s research, many of the repeated cell images found in the papers provide different treatment conditions.
David published a blog about it in November 2023 For better science about his findings and contacted Memorial Sloan Kettering, Columbia and Memorial Sloan Kettering.
However, none of the publications were retracted until this month.
‘In total, I found ten articles published between 2013 and 2021 that show these invasion and migration images and are labeled as a variety of conflicting cell lines and experimental conditions. There are many more overlapping examples between these articles that I have not annotated. ‘, David wrote on his blog.
The articles focused on why certain stomach and soft tissue cancers resist treatments, and how possible solutions to combat resistance.
According to David’s research, many of the repeated cell images are consistent with those from other papers on treatments for various conditions.
A photo of a tumor first appeared in a 2017 article (bottom image) with a measuring instrument on the left. Then it reappeared three years later but was rotated to show the ruler under the tumor (top image)
Other images used different color intensities to look different from previous publications.
“There’s no reason to do that unless you didn’t do the work,” David told the New York Times.
A photo of a tumor first appeared in a 2017 article with a measuring instrument on the left side.
Then it reappeared three years later, but was rotated to show the ruler under the tumor.
Elisabeth Bik, microbiologist and imaging expert, said: ‘This is another example where this appears to have been done deliberately.’
About nine papers that David found contained repeat data had appeared in Springer Nature, which said it was investigating concerns.
The American Association for Cancer Research claimed the same response after being informed that ten questionable papers from Dr. Yoon were featured in four magazines.
The delayed responses have sparked anger among the scientific community, with researchers saying the system of overseeing science is “broken,” according to the New York Times.
“This is typical nonsense, sweeping things under the rug,” said Dr. Ivan Oransky, co-founder of Retraction Watch, which maintains a database of more than 47,000 retracted papers. ‘To say the least, this is not good for the scientific reputation.