The journal Cancer Nanotechnology has retracted a 2023 paper that described the preparation and characterization of cetuximab-loaded egg serum albumin nanoparticles and their proposed use as a drug delivery system against Caco-2 colon cancer cells. The retraction note was published on 9 September 2026, more than three years after the original article appeared in the journal on 16 January 2023.
According to the retraction notice, the Editor-in-Chief retracted the article after concerns were raised regarding a number of the figures. The journal requested the original data from the authors for further internal review, and the retraction decision was based on that review of the raw data.
The notice describes specific problems identified in two figures. In Fig. 4, the ESA NPs trace appears to have been plotted incorrectly. Fig. 5 appears to represent a composite image: the ESA-NPs lane appears to have been inserted from a different gel, and the positions of the ESA-NPs bands appear to be shifted vertically compared with the raw data supplied by the authors.
On the basis of these findings, the Editor-in-Chief stated that the journal no longer has confidence in the presented data. The retraction note also records the authors’ responses: Abeer M. Mosbah, F. A. Elhussiny, Nemany A. N. Hanafy and Y. Abdou do not agree to the retraction, while Elsayed I. Salim has not responded to any correspondence from the publisher about it.
The retraction applies to the original open access article, which was published in Cancer Nanotechnology in 2023 as volume 14, article number 4. The retraction note itself is published under the same article title, prefixed as a Retraction Note, and is freely accessible to readers. No findings about the safety or effectiveness of the cetuximab-loaded nanoparticles should be relied upon from the retracted paper, and the journal’s notice stands as the authoritative record of the article’s status.
Subject of Research: Retraction of a study on cetuximab-loaded egg serum albumin nanoparticles tested against Caco-2 colon cancer cells
Article Title: Retraction Note: Preparation and characterization of cetuximab-loaded egg serum albumin nanoparticles and their uses as a drug delivery system against Caco-2 colon cancer cells
Article References: Salim, E. I., Mosbah, A. M., Elhussiny, F. A., Hanafy, N. A. N., & Abdou, Y. (2026). Retraction Note: Preparation and characterization of cetuximab-loaded egg serum albumin nanoparticles and their uses as a drug delivery system against Caco-2 colon cancer cells. Cancer Nanotechnology, 17(1), Article 53. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12645-026-00427-5
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1186/s12645-026-00427-5
Keywords: retraction, Cancer Nanotechnology, cetuximab, egg serum albumin nanoparticles, drug delivery, Caco-2 colon cancer cells, research integrity, figure manipulation, Editor-in-Chief, open access, Note, Preparation
News Source: Nathaniel Bowman. (October 29, 2026). Journal Retracts 2023 Study on Cetuximab-Loaded Albumin Nanoparticles for Colon Cancer Cells. Scienmag.
