Int J Oncol 33: [Related article:] 381-388, 2008; DOI:
10.3892/ijo_00000019
Following the publication of this paper, it was
drawn to the Editor's attention by a concerned reader that,
regarding the western blot data, this paper appeared to contain a
number of data duplications/erroneously assembled figures. First,
one of the p-Erk1/2 bands in Fig. 2B (the leftmost lane) appeared
to match one of the protein bands shown for Erk1/2 experiments (the
rightmost lane). Secondly, Bcl-Xa bands in Fig. 2A were apparently
matching with cIAP-1 bands in Fig. 5B (albeit with horizontal
flipping and vertical resizing of the data). Thirdly, the cIAP-1
protein bands in Fig. 5B also appeared to have been re-used in a
subsequent paper published by the same research group in the
journal Endocrine-Related Cancer.
Upon performing an independent analysis of the data
in this paper, a pair of further data duplications were identified;
namely, phospho-p53 bands in Fig. 2A were apparently matching with
Dr4 bands in Fig. 5B, and there also appeared to be an overlap of
β-actin bands comparing Fig. 2B with Fig. 5B (where the reported
experimental conditions were different). Given the apparent
duplications of data within this paper itself and the re-use of
data in a subsequently published paper, the Editor of
International Journal of Oncology has decided that it should
be retracted from the Journal on account of a lack of confidence in
the presented data. The authors were asked for an explanation to
account for these concerns, but the Editorial Office did not
receive a reply. The Editor apologizes to the readership for any
inconvenience caused.
