Recently (Jan 19, 2006) I posted about Dr. Jon Sudbo who was discovered to have faked the research on an October 2005 Lancet article.

Well it looks like Sudbo faked the research in more published journal articles. Sudbo admitted making up data for an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in April 2004 and another in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in March 2005.

The New England Journal of Medicine issued an expression of concern January 20, 2006 regarding two articles (N Engl J Med 2001;344:1270-8 and N Engl J Med 2004;350:1405-13). The editors of NEJM contend that Sudbo may have doctored a photograph to represent different stages of his oral cancer research for findings that were published by the journal in 2001. Since the same people and database from the 2001 study were used for another study published in the journal in 2004 on a new biopsy technique for oral cancer, the NEJM editors are now questioning that study's validity as well.

Saman Warnakulasuriya of King’s College London, UK, who specialises in oral medicine, is concerned about his earlier papers effecting patient care. According to Warnakulasuriya Sudbo’s earlier papers carried greater influence on current practice than the 2005 Lancet paper under particular scrutiny. Eventhough the Lancet paper reported NSAIDs could reduce the incidence of oral cancer, many physicians were hesitant to prescribe them as a preventative agent to cancer because of their cardiovascular risks. In the earlier papers Sudbo described treatment and long-term survival of 150 patients diagnosed with pre-cancerous oral leukoplakia, and showed that those who eventually died from the disease had tested positive on the biopsy for a particular cellular aberration called "aneuploidy," in which cells look disordered, with an overabundance of DNA.

Oncologists typically recommend that all patients with leukoplakia -- pre-cancerous white patches on the tongue or mouth -- have surgery to remove the suspicious area if a biopsy shows pre-cancerous cell changes called dysplasia. Sudbo's finding was touted at the time as a way to shift the focus of treatment for individuals with aneuploid leukoplakias away from surgery and toward new drug therapies.

For more information on this topic:

Disgraced Norway doctor admits to more cheating
by Alister Doyle
Reuters

Medical Journal Casts Doubt on Oral Cancer Research
by E.J. Mundell
HealthDay Reporter

Cancer specialist's research thrown into doubt
by Roxanne Khamsi
NewScientist.com news service