Avilés A, Fernándezb R, Pérez F, Nambo MJ, Neri N, Talavera A, Castañeda C, González M, Cleto S. “Adjuvant radiotherapy in stage IV diffuse large cell lymphoma improves outcome.”
The Editors and Publisher regret to announce that the following article published in 2004 has been retracted with the agreement of the first author from publication in Leukemia & Lymphoma:
Avilés A, Fernándezb R, Pérez F, Nambo MJ, Neri N, Talavera A, Castañeda C, González M, Cleto S. Adjuvant radiotherapy in stage IV diffuse large cell lymphoma improves outcome. Leuk Lymphoma. 2004 Jul;45(7):1385–9. (doi: 10.1080/10428190410001667712).
In late 2012, serious concerns about the accuracy of some of the content of this paper published eight years earlier were raised with the Editors. After further investigation and an independent expert review, the Editors contacted the corresponding author seeking clarification.
Upon careful re-evaluation of the data as published in 2004, and consideration of the response from the corresponding author to our queries, the current Editors concluded that the report lacks the required scientific and analytical rigor for publication.
This decision was, in part, due to a lack of clarity and potential subjective interpretation of definitions of Complete Response within the study and how this may have influenced patient inclusion or exclusion. However, there were also issues related to the statistical analyses and interpretation of results. In addition other ambiguities and inconsistencies lead to doubts about the accuracy and robustness of the conclusions.
Unfortunately, the extensive changes necessary to potentially address all of these issues cannot be dealt with in a corrigendum and would require submission of a new manuscript. The decision as to whether this option is pursued rests with the author. It is important to note that these enquiries have not established any evidence of deliberate scientific misconduct by the authors.
The article is herewith withdrawn from all print and electronic editions.
Aaron Polliack, Koen Van Besien, John Seymour (Editors-in-Chief)
Anna Treadway (Head of Journals Publishing, Informa Healthcare)