Fourth retraction for Einstein oncologist due to image manipulations

Two papers on a potential cancer drug have been retracted following an investigation that found “inappropriate manipulation of bands in gels.”

This makes four retractions by our count for Roman Perez-Soler, an oncologist at the Einstein College of Medicine, and for co-author Yi-He Ling, whose current affiliation is unknown.

Their previous two retractions, which we reported on in 2013, were also for image manipulation. At the time, Perez-Soler told us that Ling “accepted full responsibility for the changes” and he had “returned to his home country.”

The fresh retraction notes, from Molecular Pharmacology, provide a few specifics about the figures that were manipulated this time around.

Here is the retraction note for “Erlotinib induces mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis in human H3255 non-small-cell lung cancer cells with epidermal growth factor receptorL858R mutation through mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation-dependent activation of BAX and BAK“:

Following an internal investigation, the article referenced above has been found to contain inappropriate manipulation of bands in gels within Figures 2B, 8C, and 10A. Molecular Pharmacology has retracted this article.

The paper has been cited 33 times according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge, and has a number of comments on PubPeer.

And here is the note for “Erlotinib, an effective epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, induces p27KIP1 up-regulation and nuclear translocation in association with cell growth inhibition and G1/S phase arrest in human non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines:”

Following an internal investigation, the article referenced above has been found to contain inappropriate manipulation of bands in gels within Figures 2A, 3A, and 4. Molecular Pharmacology has retracted this article.

The paper has been cited 54 times, and has also received comments on PubPeer.

We emailed Perez-Soler and asked who was responsible for the manipulations, and we’ll update this post if we hear back.

We also posed the question to the Editor in Chief of Molecular Pharmacology. The Journals Director at the The American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics got back to us on his behalf, with no further information:

Everything we have to report about the retractions is in the retraction notices.

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