Shu-Mei Chen

Taipei Medical University | TMU · Department of Neurosurgery

Background: Fatigue is a common symptom after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and may persist for weeks or years. However, nonpharmacological management strategies for fatigue alleviations are almost nonexistent; thus, effective fatigue management programs are needed urgently. Purposes: We aimed to evaluate the effects of self-administered acupre...

Background: Traditionally, most centers would use microelectrode recording (MER) to refine targeting in deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. In recent years, intraoperative imaging (IMG) guided DBS has become an alternative way to verify lead placement. Currently, there is still controversy surrounding the necessity of MER or IMG for DBS. This me...

Background Traditionally, most centers would use microelectrode recording (MER) to refine targeting in deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. In recent years, intraoperative imaging (IMG) guided DBS has become an alternative way to verify lead placement. Currently, there is still controversy surrounding the necessity of MER or IMG for DBS. This meta...

Alzheimer’s disease is the most frequent form of dementia in aging population and is presently the world’s sixth largest cause of mortality. With the advancement of therapies, several solutions have been developed such as passive immunotherapy against these misfolded proteins, thereby resulting in the clearance. Within this segment, encapsulated ce...

Introduction: Thoracic empyema and concomitant bronchopleural fistula are serious complications of pneumonia. The treatment of empyema caused by extensively drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (XDR-PA) has become increasingly challenging. Patients concerns and important clinical findings: A 57-year-old woman with controlled schizophrenia devel...

Background: An extensive body of research suggests that brain inflammation and oxidative stress are the underlying causes of Parkinson's disease (PD), for which no potent therapeutic approach exists to mitigate the degradation of dopamine neurons. Freshwater clams, an ancient health food of Chinese origin, have been documented to exhibit anti-infl...

Rotenone (RO)-induced neurotoxicity exhibits pathophysiological features similar to those reported in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), such as nitrosative and oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and neural cytoarchitecture alterations in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc)/striatum (ST), which has been used for decades as an a...

Background/purpose We investigated the protective efficacy of l-theanine (LT), the major amino acid components of green tea, on chronic constriction injury (CCI) of sciatic nerve-induced neuropathic pain (NP) development and neuronal functional changes in rats. Methods Rats with NP induced by CCI of the left sciatic nerve and sham-operated rats re...

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) has remained one of the most lethal and challenging cancers to treat. Previous studies have shown encouraging results when irinotecan was used in combination with temozolomide (TMZ) for treating GBM. However, irinotecan has a narrow therapeutic index: a slight dose increase in irinotecan can induce toxicities that outw...

Kyphoplasty (KP) with intravertebral reduction devices (IRD) was reported to be associated with better radiological outcomes than KP with balloons (BK) for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs). However, the mechanical factors that contribute to the radiological benefits of IRDs require further investigation. To probe the mechanical...

Sarcomas of bone, soft tissue, or neural origin may occasionally invade the central nervous system (CNS), causing diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. We aim to investigate the clinical features of sarcomas involving the CNS at initial presentation. During 2015/01–2019/12, nine consecutive patients (4 Males and 5 Females) younger than 30 years of...

Background Malignant gliomas (MGs) are highly chemotherapy-resistant. Temozolomide (TMZ) and carmustine (BiCNU) are alkylating agents clinically used for treating MGs. However, their effectiveness is restrained by overexpression of the DNA repair protein O ⁶ -methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) in tumors. O ⁶ -benzylguanine (O ⁶ -BG) is a no...

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common type of malignant childhood brain tumor. We previously showed that inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAP) small‐molecule inhibitors (LCL161 or LBW242) combined with chemotherapy have synergistic antiproliferative effects on MB cells. The synergistic antitumor effects of combination treatments happen through i...

Fig. S1. Arginine transporter CAT‐2 is needed for ASS1‐negative melanoma cells to obtain exogenous arginine for energy source. Fig. S2. BRAFi resistant (BR) melanoma cells acquire more exogenous arginine by expressing higher levels of arginine transporter CAT‐2 compared to their parental counterparts. Fig. S3. Silencing AMPK‐α1 expression results...

Melanomas harboring BRAF mutation (V600E) are known to recur frequently following treatment with BRAF inhibitors (BRAFi) despite a high initial response rate. Our previous study has uncovered that BRAFi-resistant melanoma (BR) cells are vulnerable to arginine deprivation. It has been reported that naïve melanoma cells undergo autophagy and re-expre...

Autophagy, a self-eating machinery, has been reported as an adaptive response to maintain metabolic homeostasis when cancer cells encounter stress. It has been appreciated that autophagy acts as a double-edge sword to decide the fate of cancer cells upon stress factors, molecular subtypes, and microenvironmental conditions. Currently, the majority...

Background: Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common pediatric primary malignant brain tumor. Approximately one-third of MB patients succumb to treatment failure and some survivors suffer detrimental side effects. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore new therapeutic regimens to overcome chemotherapeutic agent resistance or reduce chemothe...

Caspase-3 inhibition reverses combination treatment-induced cell apoptosis in MB cells. (A) DAOY and D283MED cells were treated with combination therapy (vincristine or cisplatin plus 10 μM LCL161) or DMSO /and or caspase-3 inhibitor (40 μM Z-DEVD-FMK) for 72 hr. Cell apoptosis was detected by Annexin V/PI and FACS. (B) The bar graphs illustrate th...

ED50 values of chemotherapeutic agents or in combination of IAP inhibitors in CD133+ cells. (DOC)

Combination of IAP inhibitors and chemotherapies has a mild effect on normal astrocytes. HA-h cells (normal astrocytes) were treated with different concentrations of vincristine or cisplatin combined with LCL161 (10 μM) or LBW242 (10 μM) or DMSO. The cell viability was measured by MTT assay after treatments for 72 hr. The data are represented as th...

Expressions of cancer stem cell markers appear in CD133+ MB cells. CD133+ MB cells expressed higher cancer stem cell markers including Nestin, CD44, SOX2, and Oct4 relative to their CD133- cells and parental cells. (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.001, and ***p < 0.005). (TIF)

Cisplatin resistance remains a major problem in the treatment of lung cancer. We have discovered that cisplatin resistant (CR) lung cancer cells, regardless of the KRAS mutation status, share one common parameter which is increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) when compared to their parental cells counterpart. Importantly, we found that CR cells w...

The combination of BRAF inhibitor (BRAFi) and MEK inhibitor (MEKi) has been FDA approved to treat melanomas harboring (V600E) mutation. Although most BRAF mutant melanomas are highly responsive to these treatments, they all relapse ultimately. In this study, we found a unique mechanism which can be used to treat BRAFi resistant patients. Five BRAFi...

Objective: Cerebral infarction is a very common cause of disability. In addition, malignant large infarction (MLI) is a catastrophic event and there is no efficient medical treatment. This study aimed to assess the outcome predictors of MLI and to analyze the impact of decompressive craniectomy (DC) on the functional outcome of survivals. Methods...

BRAF inhibitor (BRAFi) has been used for treatment of melanomas harboring V600E mutation. Despite a high initial response rate, resistance to BRAFi is inevitable. Here, we demonstrate that BRAFi-resistant (BR) melanomas are susceptible to arginine deprivation due to inability to initiate re-expression of argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS1, a key en...

Endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary tumors has been the standard therapy for decades. This approach offers surgeons an effective, safe, and wide exposure to the pituitary gland, with a relatively low mortality rate and acceptable complication rates. However, severe complications, including cerebrospinal fistula, meningitis, n...

The efficacy of glioblastoma chemotherapy is not satisfactory; therefore, a new medication is expected to improve outcomes. As much evidence shows that antidepressants decrease cancer incidence and improve patients' quality of life, we therefore attempted to explore the potential for fluoxetine to be used to treat GBM and its possible underlying me...

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, comprising 15-20% of intracranial tumor in children. Most metastatic and recurrent medulloblastoma cells are resistant to current therapeutic approaches including radiation and high-dose chemotherapy. In addition, some studies indicate that subsets of medulloblastomas exhibit loss...

We have previously shown that certain gliomas expressed procollagen type1 alpha1(1α1). Procollagen is synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum, modified and packaged in the Golgi body and transported out of the cells. Once exited, the N-and C-terminal are cleaved by peptidase and fibril is formed. The collagen can interact with integrin, Endo180, o...

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA The BRAF inhibitor, vemurafenib, has been proven to be efficacious for the treatment of melanomas harboring (V600E) mutation. While the response rate is high, resistance is inevitable. The response to salvage therapy is poor. While the MEK inhibitor may be able to enhance anti-t...

Intracranial osteomas are uncommon lesions that usually arise from the inner table of the cranium. There are few reports in the literature of intracranial osteomas with meninges attachment and without direct relation with the skull bone; these osteomas were mostly attached with dura. We report a rare osteoma with falx attachment.Case: A 64-year-old...

We have previously shown that primary brain tumor from patients and cell lines possess type I alpha 1 procollagen. Procollagen type I, III, and IV have also been reported to be expressed in certain glioma subtypes. Although the function of these procollagens is not known, they are most likely involved in invasion and signaling. We have further inve...

Background Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive type of glioma and carries the poorest chances of survival. There is therefore an urgent need to understand the mechanisms of glioma tumorigenesis and develop or improve therapeutics. The aim of this study was to assess the possible prognostic value of cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6)...

Zoledronic acid (ZOL), a nitrogen-containing compound, is effective in the treatment of skeletal disorders, but its long-term use in high doses gives rise to complications such as osteonecrosis. We aimed to investigate the effect of low-dose ZOL on the expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), which may be correlated with tumor growth...

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive type of primary brain tumor. It is a rapidly progressive, highly recurrent, fatal intracranial neoplasm, and the demand for novel treatment is urgent. Valproic acid (VPA) is a potential anticancer agent that belongs to a class of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, targeting the epigenetic con...

To verify that low-frequency planar ultrasound can be used to disrupt the BBB in large animals, and the usefulness of MRI to quantitatively monitor the delivery of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles into the disrupted regions. Two groups of swine subjected to craniotomy were sonicated with burst lengths of 30 or 100 ms, and one group...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels in children with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Thirty-five children with IBS (17 diarrhea-predominant, 7 constipation-predominant, and 11 mixed type) and 25 healthy children as healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. All of the participants completed...

We report the case of a 68-year-old man with a 6-year history of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), who presented with severe low backache and paraparesis for a month before admission. In addition, he experienced urinary retention for 2 weeks. A spinal magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed the presence of an intradural extramedullary solitary mass at t...

Malignant glioma is a common and severe primary brain tumor with a high recurrence rate and an extremely high mortality rate within 2 years of diagnosis, even when surgical, radiological, and chemotherapeutic interventions are applied. Intravenously administered drugs have limited use because of their adverse systemic effects and poor blood-brain b...

Glioblastoma and astrocytoma are the most common brain tumors affecting adults 45-60 years of age. The poor prognosis for glioblastoma patients results from recurrence after treatment. There is therefore an urgent need to develop diagnostic and prognostic markers as well as new therapies. Microarray analyses of clinical specimens from glioblastoma...

Lymphomas can occur throughout the body, but are relatively rare in the sphenoid region. The clinical presentations are atypical, ranging from nasal symptoms, pituitary hormone dysfunction and neurological impairment. We report a 63-year-old female patient who suffered nasal discharge, retro-ocular pain and left lateral gaze palsy for 3 months. Cra...

Background: Olfactory groove meningiomas (OGMs) account for about 10% of all intracranial meningiomas. We report on the clinical outcomes and recurrence rate of OGMs after surgical treatment in our neurosurgery department. Methods: The authors searched the database at the Department of Neurosurgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung Universi...