It’s fair to say that we haven’t heard the last of Anil Potti, the Duke cancer researcher who resigned last month following revelations that he had faked some of his results. Duke is still investigating the situation, and has also asked the Institute of Medicine to conduct its own study into the case and its ramifications.
This week, we may find out whether Nature Medicine will retract a paper that Joseph Nevins, one of Potti’s co-authors, asked the journal to withdraw last month. We’re also keeping an eye on two other papers that have already been the subject of increased scrutiny:
- A 2007 paper in The Lancet Oncology, “Validation of gene signatures that predict the response of breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy: a substudy of the EORTC 10994/BIG 00-01 clinical trial,” about which journal editor David Collingridge issued an Expression of Concern in July of this year. That study, which Google Scholar says was cited 103 times, was also the subject of a correction in 2008.
- A 2006 paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, “A genomic strategy to refine prognosis in early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer,” which was corrected in 2007 and was also the subject of correspondence. The original study was cited 286 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge.
David Collingridge, the editor of The Lancet Oncology, tells Retraction Watch that there are no updates yet, but that the journal is in regular contact with Duke and will issue a statement as soon as there’s more to say. A spokesperson for NEJM said the journal has no plans to retract their paper.
Also worth keeping an eye on “A genomic approach to improve prognosis and predict therapeutic response in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.” and “Age- and sex-specific genomic profiles in non-small cell lung cancer.”