Publications by authors named "Yen-Lin Chee"

Purpose: Despite initially responding to first-line treatment, many patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) eventually relapse or are refractory. These patients are empirically subjected to salvage therapies that may not be efficacious. We had previously presented feasibility evidence of an ex vivo functional precision medicine (FPM) platform, quadratic phenotypic optimization platform (QPOP), being potentially useful in identifying alternative therapeutic options for patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R)-NHL.

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Background: Patients with intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) have significant risk of hemodynamic decompensation. Mechanical pulmonary thrombectomy (MT) allows for rapid reperfusion with reduced bleeding risks compared to systemic thrombolysis. However, data comparing efficacy and safety of MT versus anticoagulation therapy (AC) alone for intermediate-risk PE has been lacking.

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ObjectiveEnzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is the established method for detecting antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in the diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) but is labor-intensive compared with the newer automated chemiluminescent assay (CLIA). This study aims to evaluate CLIA versus ELISA for aPL, correlate each method with clinical manifestations and perform a comprehensive literature review.MethodsPatient samples were concurrently tested by ELISA (QUANTA Lite) and CLIA (ACL AcuStar) for anti-cardiolipin antibody (aCL) and anti-β2-glycoprotein-I (aβ2GPI) IgG and IgM.

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Background: Despite advances made in targeted biomarker-based therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatment, remission is often short and followed by relapse and acquired resistance. Functional precision medicine (FPM) efforts have been shown to improve therapy selection guidance by incorporating comprehensive biological data to tailor individual treatment. However, effectively managing complex biological data, while also ensuring rapid conversion of actionable insights into clinical utility remains challenging.

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Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is associated with both hypertensive emergency and primary thrombocytopenia purpura (TTP). However, their clinical management is vastly different, with the latter necessitating urgent plasma exchange (PEX). We report two cases of hypertension-associated TMA (HTN-TMA) and a literature review of the clinical management of malignant hypertension.

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Macrophages are abundant immune cells in the microenvironment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Macrophage estimation by immunohistochemistry shows varying prognostic significance across studies in DLBCL, and does not provide a comprehensive analysis of macrophage subtypes. Here, using digital spatial profiling with whole transcriptome analysis of CD68+ cells, we characterize macrophages in distinct spatial niches of reactive lymphoid tissues (RLTs) and DLBCL.

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Deregulation of the DNA damage response (DDR) plays a critical role in the pathogenesis and progression of many cancers. The dependency of certain cancers on DDR pathways has enabled exploitation of such through synthetically lethal relationships e.g.

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Background: A high incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in COVID-19 has led to international recommendations for thromboprophylaxis. With limited data on Asian patients with COVID-19, the role of thromboprophylaxis remains unclear.

Objectives: To investigate the in-hospital incidence of VTE in an Asian COVID-19 cohort, describe the VTE trend through successive COVID-19 waves (wild-type, delta, and omicron), and characterize the risk factors for VTE.

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Purpose: Treatment options for myeloma and indolent lymphoma are increasing exponentially, with distinct efficacy, side effects, and cost. We aim to determine the factors influencing patient and caregiver treatment preferences.

Methods: Patients and caregivers of patients with myeloma and indolent lymphoma were recruited from two cancer centers in Singapore.

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Introduction: Chemotherapy is complex. We hypothesized that a design thinking approach could redesign preparatory processes and reduce wait times.

Methods: A multidisciplinary process mapping exercise was undertaken to understand the current processes, followed by proposing and testing solutions.

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Rituximab-based chemo-immunotherapy is currently the standard first-line treatment for Waldenstrom macroglobulinaemia (WM), while ibrutinib has emerged as an alternative. In the absence of randomised trials (RCTs) comparing these regimens, the optimal first-line treatment for WM remains uncertain. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we sought to assess the efficacy and safety of first-line treatment regimens for WM.

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Unlabelled: Cancers often overexpress multiple clinically relevant oncogenes, but it is not known if combinations of oncogenes in cellular subpopulations within a cancer influence clinical outcomes. Using quantitative multispectral imaging of the prognostically relevant oncogenes MYC, BCL2, and BCL6 in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), we show that the percentage of cells with a unique combination MYC+BCL2+BCL6- (M+2+6-) consistently predicts survival across four independent cohorts (n = 449), an effect not observed with other combinations including M+2+6+. We show that the M+2+6- percentage can be mathematically derived from quantitative measurements of the individual oncogenes and correlates with survival in IHC (n = 316) and gene expression (n = 2,521) datasets.

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Article Synopsis
  • Combination therapy is currently the standard treatment for relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (RR-NHL), but response rates are often low, especially in patients resistant to chemotherapy.
  • Researchers evaluated a new method called quadratic phenotypic optimization platform (QPOP), which can predict effective drug combinations using limited tumor samples from RR-NHL patients.
  • In a study involving 71 patients, QPOP-guided treatments showed improved outcomes and fewer cases of disease progression compared to traditional chemotherapy, providing a strong basis for future clinical trials on this approach.
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Background: Contemporary data of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) and natural-killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTL) patients treated with ifosfamide, carboplatin and etoposide (ICE) are limited.

Aims: We performed a retrospective analysis to estimate outcomes of ICE-treated PTCL and NKTL patients at three tertiary cancer centres in Singapore.

Methods And Results: Patients were identified through lymphoma databases from National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), National University Hospital, Singapore (NUHS), and Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

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  • Unfractionated heparin (UFH) and bivalirudin are commonly used anticoagulants during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), but researchers have identified new direct thrombin inhibitors (DTIs) from tick saliva that may perform better.
  • The most effective DTI, ultravariegin, inhibits thrombin significantly more effectively than bivalirudin and shows a significantly reduced risk of bleeding in animal models.
  • When tested with common antiplatelet medications, ultravariegin not only lowered stent thrombosis but also exhibited a remarkable safety profile, indicating its potential as a safer alternative for PCI procedures.
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CNS prophylaxis is commonly used in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) patients with risk features for CNS relapse. This systematic review and meta-analysis compares CNS relapse rates with and without CNS prophylaxis, for patients at intermediate to high CNS relapse risk. Studies reporting CNS relapse risk category and CNS outcomes with and without CNS prophylaxis for antiCD20-CHOP treated DLBCL patients were included.

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Background: The potential therapeutic efficacy of daratumumab in natural killer T-cell lymphoma (NKTL) was highlighted when its off-label usage produced sustained remission in a patient with highly refractory disease. This is corroborated recently by a phase II clinical trial which established that daratumumab monotherapy is well tolerated and displayed encouraging response in relapsed/refractory NKTL patients. However, little is known regarding the molecular factors central to the induction and regulation of the daratumumab-mediated antitumor response in NKTL.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study in Singapore examined arterial and venous thrombosis rates in critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU from January to April 2020.
  • Among 111 patients, the rates of venous thrombotic events were low at 1.8%, while arterial thrombosis was higher at 9.9%.
  • Additionally, the major bleeding rate among these patients was recorded at 14.8%, indicating a unique thrombosis and bleeding profile in this cohort compared to other studies.
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Methicillin-resistant (MRSA) can cause a wide range of skin infections, however MRSA panniculitis without bacteremia is a rare manifestation. Here, we report a woman in her 20s with relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma undergoing stem cell mobilisation who presented with bilateral subcutaneous nodules over her shins. Ultrasound scan of one nodule showed non-specific inflammatory changes.

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Objectives: The COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore has largely centred around migrant worker dormitories, comprising over 90% of all cases in the country. Dormitories are home to a culturally and linguistically distinct, low-income population, without on-site healthcare after-hours. The primary objective of this study was to assess the engagement and utilisation of a simple, low-cost, accessible, mobile health solution for remote self-reporting of vital parameters in dormitory residents with COVID-19.

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Introduction: The number of treatment options for myeloma and indolent lymphoma are expanding at an exponential rate, with few direct head-to-head comparisons on which to base efficacy measures. We sought to understand how patients, their caregivers and physicians weigh treatment characteristics in order to come to a decision on which treatment option to pursue.

Methods: Patients, their caregivers and physicians were recruited and interviewed until data saturation was reached.

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: Previous studies in Western populations, using immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods to subtype diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), suggest that germinal center B-cell lymphomas (GCBs) have improved outcomes. However, data in Asians have been limited and conflicting. This study aims to evaluate the prognostic impact of cell-of-origin (COO) subtyping by IHC and Lymph2Cx in South-East Asian (SEA) DLBCL patients, and to summarize the existing literature.

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Primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) is a distinct clinico-pathological subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with unclear prognostic factors and limited clinical data. Optimal treatment and role for radiotherapy is not fully defined. We performed a multicenter retrospective review of 124 patients with newly diagnosed PMBCL between 2001 and 2016.

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