Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 79 in total

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  1. Ang YLE, Ho GF, Soo RA, Sundar R, Tan SH, Yong WP, et al.
    BMC Cancer, 2020 Nov 17;20(1):1118.
    PMID: 33203399 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-020-07616-4
    BACKGROUND: We previously reported that low-dose, short-course sunitinib prior to neoadjuvant doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide (AC) normalised tumour vasculature and improved perfusion, but resulted in neutropenia and delayed subsequent cycles in breast cancer patients. This study combined sunitinib with docetaxel, which has an earlier neutrophil nadir than AC.

    METHODS: Patients with advanced solid cancers were randomized 1:1 to 3-weekly docetaxel 75 mg/m2, with or without sunitinib 12.5 mg daily for 7 days prior to docetaxel, stratified by primary tumour site. Primary endpoints were objective-response (ORR:CR + PR) and clinical-benefit rate (CBR:CR + PR + SD); secondary endpoints were toxicity and progression-free-survival (PFS).

    RESULTS: We enrolled 68 patients from 2 study sites; 33 received docetaxel-sunitinib and 35 docetaxel alone, with 33 breast, 25 lung and 10 patients with other cancers. There was no difference in ORR (30.3% vs 28.6%, p = 0.432, odds-ratio [OR] 1.10, 95% CI 0.38-3.18); CBR was lower in the docetaxel-sunitinib arm (48.5% vs 71.4%, p = 0.027 OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.14-1.01). Median PFS was shorter in the docetaxel-sunitinib arm (2.9 vs 4.9 months, hazard-ratio [HR] 2.00, 95% CI 1.15-3.48, p = 0.014) overall, as well as in breast (4.2 vs 5.6 months, p = 0.048) and other cancers (2.0 vs 5.3 months, p = 0.009), but not in lung cancers (2.9 vs 4.1 months, p = 0.597). Median OS was similar in both arms overall (9.9 vs 10.5 months, HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.51-1.67, p = 0.789), and in the breast (18.9 vs 25.8 months, p = 0.354), lung (7.0 vs 6.7 months, p = 0.970) and other cancers (4.5 vs 8.8 months, p = 0.449) subgroups. Grade 3/4 haematological toxicities were lower with docetaxel-sunitinib (18.2% vs 34.3%, p = 0.132), attributed to greater discretionary use of prophylactic G-CSF (90.9% vs 63.0%, p = 0.024). Grade 3/4 non-haematological toxicities were similar (12.1% vs 14.3%, p = 0.792).

    CONCLUSIONS: The addition of sunitinib to docetaxel was well-tolerated but did not improve outcomes. The possible negative impact in metastatic breast cancer patients is contrary to results of adding sunitinib to neoadjuvant AC. These negative results suggest that the intermittent administration of sunitinib in the current dose and schedule with docetaxel in advanced solid tumours, particularly breast cancers, is not beneficial.

    TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered ( NCT01803503 ) prospectively on clinicaltrials.gov on 4th March 2013.

  2. Lee SC, Lintang HO, Yuliati L
    Chem Asian J, 2012 Sep;7(9):2139-44.
    PMID: 22733646 DOI: 10.1002/asia.201200383
    A urea precursor was used for the first time to prepare mesoporous carbon nitride (MCN) by a thermal polymerization process with silica nanospheres as a hard template. Although the prepared MCN samples have similar structures and optical properties, it was revealed that the specific surface area, pore-size distribution, and morphology of the MCN samples depend on the initial mass ratio of urea to silica. Compared to the bulk carbon nitride (BCN) that only gave 20% phenol removal (6 h of irradiation), the activities can be enhanced up to 74% on MCN samples for photocatalytic removal of phenol under visible-light irradiation. The highest conversion was obtained on MCN with an initial mass ratio of urea to silica of 5, which has high surface area of 191 m(2) g(-1) and a nanoporous structure with uniform pore-size distribution of 7 nm. In addition to the high activity, the MCN sample also showed high photocatalytic stability.
  3. Rohaizam J, Doris EJ, Tang PI, Lee SC, Uchang J
    Med J Malaysia, 2010 Jun;65(2):160-1.
    PMID: 23756807 MyJurnal
    Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma is an exceedingly rare tumor in adult. We report an embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the ethmoid in a 59-year-old Iban lady who presented with proptosis and complete ptosis of her left eye for two months. Imaging investigations showed left ethmoidal and left orbital soft tissue mass with extradura and dura involvement. The patient was planned for chemotherapy. Unfortunately, in such an advanced disease, she succumbed before treatment.
  4. Lee SC, Wo WK, Yeoh HS, Mohamed Ali N, Hariraj V
    Ther Innov Regul Sci, 2021 05;55(3):514-522.
    PMID: 33393015 DOI: 10.1007/s43441-020-00245-w
    INTRODUCTION: Allopurinol-induced severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions (SCARs) are potentially debilitating and life-threatening reactions, which can cause a financial burden to the healthcare system.

    OBJECTIVES: We aimed to identify risk factors for allopurinol-induced SCARs and to assess their impact on fatality.

    METHODS: Adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports with allopurinol as suspected drug were extracted from the Malaysian pharmacovigilance database from year 2000 to 2018. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify significant predictors of allopurinol-induced SCARs. We further analysed the association between covariates and SCARs-related fatality in a separate model. Level of significance was set at p value 

  5. Tang ML, Lee SC, Phoon MP
    Med J Malaysia, 2011 Dec;66(5):501-3.
    PMID: 22390112
    A 10 year-old Iban girl presented with severe odynophagia for 4 days and subcutaneous emphysema. Clinically, her neck was tender with crepitus. Lateral neck radiograph showed multiple linear radiolucent shadows at retropharyngeal space. Flexible nasopharyngolaryngoscope revealed a tunnel behind upper oesophagus with slough and there was pooling of saliva at pyriform sinus. Feeding via nasogastric tube was started and empirical treatment for fungal and bacterial infection was commenced. Subsequent computed tomography of neck and thorax showed a 15-long blind tract at subglottic region posterior to oesophagus (prevertebral region), extending to superior mediastinum just before carina at T3/T4 level, represent abscess. Hourly suctioning of the remaining abscess in the blind tract with 10ml-syringe was done.
  6. Lee SC, Ngui R, Tan TK, Roslan MA, Ithoi I, Lim YA
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2014 Jan;21(1):445-53.
    PMID: 23794081 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-013-1925-1
    An aquatic biomonitoring of Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts in river water corresponding to five villages situated in three states in peninsular Malaysia was determined. There were 51.3% (20/39) and 23.1% (9/39) samples positive for Giardia and Cryptosporidium (oo)cysts, respectively. Overall mean concentration between villages for Giardia cysts ranged from 0.10 to 25.80 cysts/l whilst Cryptosporidium oocysts ranged from 0.10 to 0.90 oocysts/l. Detailed results of the river samples from five villages indicated that Kuala Pangsun 100% (9/9), Kemensah 77.8% (7/9), Pos Piah 33.3% (3/9) and Paya Lebar 33.3% (1/3) were contaminated with Giardia cysts whilst Cryptosporidium (oo)cysts were only detected in Kemensah (100 %; 9/9) and Kuala Pangsun (66.6%; 6/9). However, the water samples from Bentong were all negative for these waterborne parasites. Samples were collected from lower point, midpoint and upper point. Midpoint refers to the section of the river where the studied communities are highly populated. Meanwhile, the position of the lower point is at least 2 km southward of the midpoint and upper point is at least 2 km northward of the midpoint. The highest mean concentration for (oo)cysts was found at the lower points [3.15 ± 6.09 (oo)cysts/l], followed by midpoints [0.66 ± 1.10 (oo)cysts/l] and upper points [0.66 ± 0.92 (oo)cysts/l]. The mean concentration of Giardia cysts was highest at Kuala Pangsun (i.e. 5.97 ± 7.0 cysts/l), followed by Kemensah (0.83 ± 0.81 cysts/l), Pos Piah (0.20 ± 0.35 cysts/l) and Paya Lebar (0.10 ± 0.19 cysts/l). On the other hand, the mean concentration of Cryptosporidium oocysts was higher at Kemensah (0.31 ± 0.19 cysts/l) compared to Kuala Pangsun (0.03 ± 0.03cysts/l). All the physical and chemical parameters did not show significant correlation with both protozoa. In future, viability status and molecular characterisation of Giardia and Cryptosporidium should be applied to identify species and genotypes/subgenotypes for better understanding of the epidemiology of these waterborne parasites.
  7. Saxena N, Hartman M, Bhoo-Pathy N, Lim JN, Aw TC, Iau P, et al.
    World J Surg, 2012 Dec;36(12):2838-46.
    PMID: 22926282 DOI: 10.1007/s00268-012-1746-2
    There are large differences in socio-economic growth within the region of South East Asia, leading to sharp contrasts in health-systems development between countries. This study compares breast cancer presentation and outcome between patients from a high income country (Singapore) and a middle income country (Malaysia) in South East Asia.
  8. Bhoo-Pathy N, Yip CH, Taib NA, Hartman M, Saxena N, Iau P, et al.
    Breast, 2011 Apr;20 Suppl 2:S75-80.
    PMID: 21316967 DOI: 10.1016/j.breast.2011.01.015
    Two hospital-based breast cancer databases (University Malaya Medical Center, Malaysia [n = 1513] and National University Hospital, Singapore [n = 2545]) were merged into a regional registry of breast cancer patients diagnosed between 1990 and 2007. A review of the data found 51% of patients diagnosed before the age of 50 years. and 72% percent of the women were Chinese followed by Malays (16%), Indians (8%), and other races (4%). Median tumor size at presentation was 26 mm and about 25% of patients presented with TNM stage III or IV disease. Most tumors were of ductal histology (87%). Fifty-seven percent of tumors were estrogen receptor positive and 40% were poorly differentiated. Of those patients who had surgery, 70% had mastectomy while 30% had breast conserving surgery. Overall, chemotherapy was administered to 56% of patients and hormonal treatment to 60%. Five-year overall survival was 82.5% in patients with TNM stage 0 to stage II cancer, and 30.2% in those with later stages.
  9. Dunning AM, Michailidou K, Kuchenbaecker KB, Thompson D, French JD, Beesley J, et al.
    Nat Genet, 2016 Apr;48(4):374-86.
    PMID: 26928228 DOI: 10.1038/ng.3521
    We analyzed 3,872 common genetic variants across the ESR1 locus (encoding estrogen receptor α) in 118,816 subjects from three international consortia. We found evidence for at least five independent causal variants, each associated with different phenotype sets, including estrogen receptor (ER(+) or ER(-)) and human ERBB2 (HER2(+) or HER2(-)) tumor subtypes, mammographic density and tumor grade. The best candidate causal variants for ER(-) tumors lie in four separate enhancer elements, and their risk alleles reduce expression of ESR1, RMND1 and CCDC170, whereas the risk alleles of the strongest candidates for the remaining independent causal variant disrupt a silencer element and putatively increase ESR1 and RMND1 expression.
  10. Lee SC, Sidi H, Zakaria H, Loo JL, Yahaya R
    MyJurnal
    Exhibitionism is a distressing condition which may have a link with the increasing availability and usage of online sexual activities (OSA). We highlight a 42-year-old man who presented with a constant craving for OSA to achieve his sexual satisfaction which included exposing his genitalia to virtual partners, unsuspected strangers, and colleagues in public areas. His sexual behaviours were further reinforced by an online video chatting with genitalia exposure, which ended commonly with an exchange of masturbatory acts. He denied any problem with his erection and able to achieve orgasm via common sexual acts. There was no past psychiatric history nor family history of mental disorder. He volunteered to seek psychiatric help and subsequently given a psycho education on his illness and how to cope with the distress associated with his sexual acts. He was scheduled for an intensive psychotherapy to instil insight and hope to deal with his sexual difficulties.
  11. Ke GN, Grajfoner D, Wong RMM, Carter S, Khairudin R, Lau WY, et al.
    Front Psychol, 2022;13:764811.
    PMID: 35369195 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.764811
    The world faces unprecedented challenges because of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Existing theories of human flourishing and coping efficacy are too broad and general to address COVID-19 unprecedented mental health challenges. This study examined two main objectives, first the associations between psychological outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) and psychological wellbeing of this phenomenon, and second, moderating and mediating factors emotions, resilience and coping self-efficacy. A nationwide survey was carried out on a Malaysian sample (n = 920). Participants completed an on-line survey that assessed psychological outcomes, psychological wellbeing, positive-negative emotions, resilience, and coping self-efficacy. The relationship between psychological states and psychological wellbeing was successfully mediated by coping self-efficacy (direct effects of -0.31 to -0.46 at p 
  12. Hariraj V, Wo WK, Lee SC, Ramli A
    J Clin Pharmacol, 2023 Oct;63(10):1126-1132.
    PMID: 37291071 DOI: 10.1002/jcph.2289
    Severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions (SCARs) are a life-threatening condition. We aimed to identify all carbamazepine-induced SCARs voluntarily reported to the Malaysian pharmacovigilance database and to compare between children and adults. Adverse drug reaction reports for carbamazepine were extracted from 2000 to 2020, and divided into 2 groups, that is, children (aged 0-17 years) and adults (aged 18 years and above). Age, sex, race, and carbamazepine dose were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. Of 1102 carbamazepine adverse drug reaction reports, 416 reports were SCARs (99 children, 317 adults). Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis were the main SCAR types for both age groups. Median time-to-onset for any type of SCAR was 13 days, regardless of age. In children, Malay individuals were 3.6 times more likely to report SCARs (95% confidence interval, 1.356-9.546; P = .010) compared to the Chinese population. In adults, carbamazepine-induced SCARs were reported as 3.6 times higher in those with a daily dose of 200 mg or less as compared to a daily dose of 400 mg or more. (95% confidence interval, 2.257-5.758; P 
  13. Sargsian S, Chen Z, Lee SC, Robertson A, Thur RS, Sproch J, et al.
    Cell Rep, 2022 Nov 29;41(9):111725.
    PMID: 36450245 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111725
    Soil-transmitted intestinal worms known as helminths colonize over 1.5 billion people worldwide. Although helminth colonization has been associated with altered composition of the gut microbiota, such as increases in Clostridia, individual species have not been isolated and characterized. Here, we isolate and sequence the genome of 13 Clostridia from the Orang Asli, an indigenous population in Malaysia with a high prevalence of helminth infections. Metagenomic analysis of 650 fecal samples from urban and rural Malaysians confirm the prevalence of species corresponding to these isolates and reveal a specific association between Peptostreptococcaceae family members and helminth colonization. Remarkably, Peptostreptococcaceae isolated from the Orang Asli display superior capacity to promote the life cycle of whipworm species, including hatching of eggs from Trichuris muris and Trichuris trichiura. These findings support a model in which helminths select for gut colonization of microbes that support their life cycle.
  14. Tan TK, Panchadcharam C, Low VL, Lee SC, Ngui R, Sharma RS, et al.
    BMC Vet Res, 2014;10:38.
    PMID: 24502557 DOI: 10.1186/1746-6148-10-38
    Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus spp. are reported to be the most prevalent and highly pathogenic parasites in livestock, particularly in small ruminants. However, the routine conventional tool used in Malaysia could not differentiate the species accurately and therefore limiting the understanding of the co-infections between these two genera among livestock in Malaysia. This study is the first attempt to identify the strongylids of veterinary importance in Malaysia (i.e., H. contortus and Trichostrongylus spp.) by amplification and sequencing of the Internal Transcribed Spacer II DNA region.
  15. Choo SM, Sartori D, Lee SC, Yang HC, Syed-Abdul S
    JMIR Med Inform, 2024 Apr 03;12:e49643.
    PMID: 38568722 DOI: 10.2196/49643
    BACKGROUND: The completeness of adverse event (AE) reports, crucial for assessing putative causal relationships, is measured using the vigiGrade completeness score in VigiBase, the World Health Organization global database of reported potential AEs. Malaysian reports have surpassed the global average score (approximately 0.44), achieving a 5-year average of 0.79 (SD 0.23) as of 2019 and approaching the benchmark for well-documented reports (0.80). However, the contributing factors to this relatively high report completeness score remain unexplored.

    OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the main drivers influencing the completeness of Malaysian AE reports in VigiBase over a 15-year period using vigiGrade. A secondary objective was to understand the strategic measures taken by the Malaysian authorities leading to enhanced report completeness across different time frames.

    METHODS: We analyzed 132,738 Malaysian reports (2005-2019) recorded in VigiBase up to February 2021 split into historical International Drug Information System (INTDIS; n=63,943, 48.17% in 2005-2016) and newer E2B (n=68,795, 51.83% in 2015-2019) format subsets. For machine learning analyses, we performed a 2-stage feature selection followed by a random forest classifier to identify the top features predicting well-documented reports. We subsequently applied tree Shapley additive explanations to examine the magnitude, prevalence, and direction of feature effects. In addition, we conducted time-series analyses to evaluate chronological trends and potential influences of key interventions on reporting quality.

    RESULTS: Among the analyzed reports, 42.84% (56,877/132,738) were well documented, with an increase of 65.37% (53,929/82,497) since 2015. Over two-thirds (46,186/68,795, 67.14%) of the Malaysian E2B reports were well documented compared to INTDIS reports at 16.72% (10,691/63,943). For INTDIS reports, higher pharmacovigilance center staffing was the primary feature positively associated with being well documented. In recent E2B reports, the top positive features included reaction abated upon drug dechallenge, reaction onset or drug use duration of <1 week, dosing interval of <1 day, reports from public specialist hospitals, reports by pharmacists, and reaction duration between 1 and 6 days. In contrast, reports from product registration holders and other health care professionals and reactions involving product substitution issues negatively affected the quality of E2B reports. Multifaceted strategies and interventions comprising policy changes, continuity of education, and human resource development laid the groundwork for AE reporting in Malaysia, whereas advancements in technological infrastructure, pharmacovigilance databases, and reporting tools concurred with increases in both the quantity and quality of AE reports.

    CONCLUSIONS: Through interpretable machine learning and time-series analyses, this study identified key features that positively or negatively influence the completeness of Malaysian AE reports and unveiled how Malaysia has developed its pharmacovigilance capacity via multifaceted strategies and interventions. These findings will guide future work in enhancing pharmacovigilance and public health.

  16. Tan TK, Low VL, Lee SC, Panchadcharam C, Tay ST, Ngui R, et al.
    Jpn. J. Vet. Res., 2015 May;63(2):63-71.
    PMID: 26164875
    The present study was conducted to determine the occurrence of Schistosoma spindale ova and its associated risk factors in Malaysian cattle through a coprological survey. A total of 266 rectal fecal samples were collected from six farms in Peninsular Malaysia. The overall infection rate of S. spindale was 6% (16 of 266). Schistosoma spindale infection was observed in two farms, with a prevalence of 5.4% and 51.9%, respectively. This trematode was more likely to co-occur with other gastro-intestinal parasites (i.e., Dicrocoelium spp., Paramphistomum spp., strongyle, Eimeria spp. and Entamoeba spp.). Chi-square analysis revealed that female cattle are less likely to get S. spindale infection as compared to male cattle (OR = 0.3; 95% CI = 0.08-1.06; p < 0.05), and cattle weighing lower than 200 kg, were significantly at higher risk than those higher than 200 kg (OR = 5; 95% CI = 1.07-24.79; p < 0.05) to the infection. Multivariate analysis confirmed that among the cattle in Malaysia, the age (cattle with two year old and higher: OR = 21; 95% CI = 2.48-179.44; p < 0.05) and weight (weighing 200 kg and lower: OR = 17; 95% CI = 3.38-87.19; p < 0.05) were risk factors for S. spindale infection among Malaysian cattle.
  17. Saxena N, Hartman M, Yip CH, Bhoo-Pathy N, Khin LW, Taib NA, et al.
    PLoS One, 2012;7(9):e45809.
    PMID: 23029254 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045809
    Lymph node ratio (LNR, i.e. the ratio of the number of positive nodes to the total number of nodes excised) is reported to be superior to the absolute number of nodes involved (pN stage) in classifying patients at high versus low risk of death following breast cancer. The added prognostic value of LNR over pN in addition to other prognostic factors has never been assessed.
  18. Chong CW, Ahmad AF, Lim YA, Teh CS, Yap IK, Lee SC, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2015;5:13338.
    PMID: 26290472 DOI: 10.1038/srep13338
    Gut microbiota plays an important role in mammalian host metabolism and physiological functions. The functions are particularly important in young children where rapid mental and physical developments are taking place. Nevertheless, little is known about the gut microbiome and the factors that contribute to microbial variation in the gut of South East Asian children. Here, we compared the gut bacterial richness and composition of pre-adolescence in Northern Malaysia. Our subjects covered three distinct ethnic groups with relatively narrow range of socioeconomic discrepancy. These included the Malays (n = 24), Chinese (n = 17) and the Orang Asli (indigenous) (n = 20). Our results suggested a strong ethnicity and socioeconomic-linked bacterial diversity. Highest bacterial diversity was detected from the economically deprived indigenous children while the lowest diversity was recorded from the relatively wealthy Chinese children. In addition, predicted functional metagenome profiling suggested an over-representation of pathways pertinent to bacterial colonisation and chemotaxis in the former while the latter exhibited enriched gene pathways related to sugar metabolism.
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