A group of researchers in Hong Kong and China have lost a pair of papers on liver transplantation after concerns were raised about the “origin of images” in the two studies.
The articles appeared in the American Journal of Transplantation in January and February of 2006, and came from the lab of S. T. Fan, of the University of Hong Kong. When the authors were asked about the images, they “were unable to satisfactorily mitigate the concerns.”
According to this bio from the journal Hepatobiliary Surgery and Nutrition, Fan:
innovated the adult-to-adult living-related liver transplantation using a right lobe graft, which is now adopted throughout the world. He won China’s Top National Honors for Scientific Achievements in 2005.
The first paper was titled “‘Rapamycin Attenuates Liver Graft Injury in Cirrhotic Recipient—The Significance of Down-Regulation of Rho-ROCK-VEGF Pathway.” It’s been cited 12 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge. Per the retraction notice:
The above article, published online on January 20, 2006, in Wiley Online Library (http://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com), and in volume 6, pp. 697–704, has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Allan D. Kirk, and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The retraction has been agreed upon due to concerns relating to the origin of images depicted in Figure 3. The authors, upon presentation with the figure in question, were unable to satisfactorily mitigate the concerns.
Figure 3 looks like this:
The second notice, for “Fat-Derived Hormone Adiponectin Combined with FTY720 Significantly Improves Small-for-Size Fatty Liver Graft Survival,” (cited 24 times), is more of the same:
The above article, published online on February 10, 2006, in Wiley Online Library (http://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com), and in volume 6, pp. 467–476, has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Allan D. Kirk, and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The retraction has been agreed upon due to concerns relating to the origin of images depicted in Figures 4 and 5. The authors, upon presentation with the figures in question, were unable to satisfactorily mitigate the concerns.
Here are those images:
We’ve reached out to Fan the first author on both studies, K. Man, but gotten no response so far. Allan Kirk, editor of the journal, said his office was contacted by a “grass roots” organization about the discrepancies.
We followed the guidelines of the ICMJE (http://www.icmje.org) and contacted the corresponding author. They replied and through some collegial dialogue were not able to produce the data needed to rectify the concerns.
Kirk’s colleague, Jill White, told us that the tipster was affiliated with a group in Beijing calling itself Mr. Science.
He indicated that they received a letter from a professor who raised concerns of academic misconduct by several researchers at the University of Hong Kong. They were investigating other papers from K Man, the corresponding author of the AJT articles, but we have no direct knowledge of those papers or their issues.
So, what about Mr. Science? According to the group:
Mr Science is a digital science medium in China, founded in the July of 2014 by three reputable Chinese scientists: Professor Yi Rao from Peking University, Professor Bai Lu from Tsinghua University and Professor Yu Xie from University of Michigan. Mr. Science is devoted to promoting science knowledge and scientific research methods to China, and bringing the real core of science spirit to China. In the past 10 months, Mr. Science has attracted more than 200,000 WeChat subscribers, among whom many are top scientists and researchers.
Update 10/28/15 7:30 p.m. eastern: When we were looking into this retraction, we contacted the first author on both papers, K. Man — not, as we first reported, the last author, Fan. We apologize for the mix-up, and we’ve fixed the text in the story.
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https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/10/28/hku-launches-investigation-after-top-us-journal-retracts-medical-papers/
Am J Transplant. 2004 Sep;4(9):1399-407.
Attenuation of small-for-size liver graft injury by FTY720: significance of cell-survival Akt signaling pathway.
Zhao Y1, Man K, Lo CM, Ng KT, Li XL, Sun CK, Lee TK, Dai XW, Fan ST.
Author information
1Centre for the Study of Liver Disease and Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
https://pubpeer.com/publications/15307827
http://i.imgur.com/vjsJYKi.jpg
Clin Cancer Res. 2005 Dec 1;11(23):8458-66.
FTY720: a promising agent for treatment of metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.
Lee TK1, Man K, Ho JW, Wang XH, Poon RT, Xu Y, Ng KT, Chu AC, Sun CK, Ng IO, Sun HC, Tang ZY, Xu R, Fan ST.
Author information
1Centre for the Study of Liver Disease, Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
https://pubpeer.com/publications/16322309
http://i.imgur.com/PBkTM2N.jpg
Carcinogenesis. 2005 Mar;26(3):681-7. Epub 2004 Dec 16.
Significance of the Rac signaling pathway in HCC cell motility: implications for a new therapeutic target.
Lee TK1, Man K, Ho JW, Wang XH, Poon RT, Sun CK, Ng KT, Ng IO, Xu R, Fan ST.
Author information
1Centre for the Study of Liver Disease, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
https://pubpeer.com/publications/FFC35261FC5F4DE2A3B9BE9E01A8F1#fb49080
Figure 3E.
http://i.imgur.com/jCzcSK2.jpg
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2006 Mar 3;341(1):239-44. Epub 2006 Jan 9.
TNP-470 blockage of VEGF synthesis is dependent on MAPK/COX-2 signaling pathway in PDGF-BB-activated hepatic stellate cells.
Wang YQ1, Luk JM, Chu AC, Ikeda K, Man K, Kaneda K, Fan ST.
Author information
1Center for the Study of Liver Disease, Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
https://pubpeer.com/publications/16413500
Figure 1.
http://i.imgur.com/C5l0auu.jpg
Am J Transplant. 2005 Jan;5(1):40-9.
FTY720 attenuates hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury in normal and cirrhotic livers.
Man K1, Ng KT, Lee TK, Lo CM, Sun CK, Li XL, Zhao Y, Ho JW, Fan ST.
Author information
1Centre for the Study of Liver Disease and Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
https://pubpeer.com/publications/15636610
Figure 6B.
http://i.imgur.com/J9VbdGq.jpg
Carcinogenesis. 2003 Nov;24(11):1729-36. Epub 2003 Aug 29.
Over-expression of Id-1 induces cell proliferation in hepatocellular carcinoma through inactivation of p16INK4a/RB pathway.
Lee TK1, Man K, Ling MT, Wang XH, Wong YC, Lo CM, Poon RT, Ng IO, Fan ST.
Author information
1Centre for the Study of Liver Disease and Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
https://pubpeer.com/publications/12949053
Figure 6.
http://i.imgur.com/Nq4pZHt.jpg
2018 retraction.
Cancer Res. 2004 Aug 1;64(15):5496-503.
The potential role of hypoxia inducible factor 1alpha in tumor progression after hypoxia and chemotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Yang ZF1, Poon RT, To J, Ho DW, Fan ST.
Author information
1
Centre for the Study of Liver Disease and Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong Medical Center, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China.
2018 retraction notice.
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/78/12/3399
This article (1) is being retracted at the request of the authors. The authors suspect an error in Fig. 4A but cannot locate the original source of the data for confirmation. Given this, the authors have requested that the article be retracted to ensure that the research record is correct.
A copy of this retraction notice was sent to the last known email addresses for all five authors. Two authors (Z.F. Yang and S.T. Fan) agree to the retraction; the three remaining authors (R.T.-P. Poon, J. To, and D.W. Ho) did not respond.
©2018 American Association for Cancer Research.
Reference
1.↵Yang ZF, Poon RT, To J, Ho DW, Fan ST. The potential role of hypoxia inducible factor 1alpha in tumor progression after hypoxia and chemotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer Res 2004;64:5496–503.
2018 retraction.
Cancer Res. 2005 Jan 1;65(1):219-25.
Identification of brain-derived neurotrophic factor as a novel functional protein in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Yang ZF1, Ho DW, Lam CT, Luk JM, Lum CT, Yu WC, Poon RT, Fan ST.
Author information
1
Centre for the Study of Liver Disease and Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
2018 retraction notice.
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/78/12/3400
This article (1) is being retracted at the request of the authors. The authors suspect an error in Fig. 2 but cannot locate the original source of the data for confirmation. Given this, the authors have requested that the article be retracted to ensure that the research record is correct.
A copy of this retraction notice was sent to the last known email addresses for all eight authors. Three authors (Z.F. Yang, C.T. Lam, and S.T. Fan) agree to the retraction; the five remaining authors (D.W. Ho, J.M. Luk, C.T. Lum, W.C. Yu, and R.T.-P. Poon) did not respond.
©2018 American Association for Cancer Research.
Reference
1.↵Yang ZF, Ho DW, Lam CT, Luk JM, Lum CT, Yu WC, et al. Identification of brain-derived neurotrophic factor as a novel functional protein in hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer Res 2005;65:219–25.