About

Mai Na Lee is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Minnesota. Her academic role involves teaching and research within the department, which is committed to fostering an appreciation and understanding of the past through diverse and interdisciplinary research interests. As an associate professor, she contributes to the department's mission of supporting students' learning and scholarly development.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Gastroenterology
• Internal medicine
• Oncology
• Immunology

Selected publications

• Phase II Study of Ipilimumab, Nivolumab, and Panitumumab in Patients With <i>KRAS</i> / <i>NRAS</i> / <i>BRAF</i> Wild-Type Microsatellite Stable Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

  JCO oncology advances. · 2025-02-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  PURPOSE Panitumumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), is standard therapy for patients with KRAS/NRAS/BRAF wild-type (WT), microsatellite stable (MSS), metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). We hypothesized that the addition of ipilimumab (anti–cytotoxic T-cell lymphocyte-4) and nivolumab (anti-PD1) to panitumumab would increase response rate. METHODS This is a phase II, multicenter, single-arm trial of panitumumab, ipilimumab, and nivolumab in KRAS / NRAS / BRAF WT, MSS mCRC. Eligible patients had received ≥1 previous lines of therapy and no previous anti-EGFR or immune checkpoint inhibitor. Patients received ipilimumab 1 mg/kg IV once every 6 weeks, nivolumab 240 mg IV once every 2 weeks, and panitumumab 6 mg/kg IV once every 2 weeks until progression, toxicity, or patient withdrawal. The primary outcome was overall response rate at 12 weeks. Using a Simon's two-stage design, with null and alternative hypothesis response rates of 22% and 35%, responses in ≥17 patients of 56 would be considered worthy of additional study. RESULTS In 56 patients enrolled between March 2018 and June 2020, the response rate was 32.1% (95% CI, 21.4 to 45.2; n = 18). The median progression-free survival was 6.0 months (95% CI, 5.5 to 7.4), and the median overall survival was 17.4 months (95% CI, 14.2 to 27.5). With a median follow-up of 43.3 months (95% CI, 41 to 55), four patients (10.7%) were alive without progression, including two patients with liver metastases. There was one treatment-related grade 5 myocarditis. The most common treatment-related grade 3 to 4 toxicities included lipase increased (9%), amylase increased (7%), ALT increased (5%), AST increased (5%), diarrhea (5%), hypophosphatemia (5%), and maculopapular rash (5%). CONCLUSION The combination of panitumumab, ipilimumab, and nivolumab demonstrated an acceptable response rate including a signal of durable response even among patients with liver metastases, suggesting activity of immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with anti-EGFR therapy in MSS mCRC.

  PublisherDOI

• Gene signatures derived from transcriptomic-causal networks stratify colorectal cancer patients for effective targeted therapy

  UNC Libraries · 2025-12-09

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Phase II single-arm study of palbociclib and cetuximab in anti-EGFR naïve patients with KRAS/NRAS/BRAF wild-type, metastatic colorectal cancer

  The Oncologist · 2025-09-24

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Standard therapy for patients with KRAS/NRAS/BRAF wild-type (WT), microsatellite stable (MSS), L-sided metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) often includes chemotherapy with a monoclonal antibody (mAb) that targets epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) such as cetuximab. Preclinical studies suggest the role of CDK4/6 activity downstream of EGFR as a possible resistance mechanism to anti-EGFR therapy. Therefore, we hypothesized that the addition of the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib would increase the disease control rate of patients with anti-EGFR naïve KRAS/NRAS/BRAF-WT mCRC. METHODS: LCCC1717 was a phase II trial with a Simon two-stage design in which patients with KRAS/NRAS WT mCRC having progressed on at least two lines of therapy were given palbociclib and cetuximab. The primary end point was four-month disease control rate (DCR). Secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). If six or more patients achieved disease control at four months, the study would continue enrollment, otherwise the study would be discontinued. RESULTS: A total of 12 subjects were enrolled, 11 of whom had left-sided colon cancer. The four-month DCR was 41.7% (95% CI 15% to 72%) with median OS at 13.9 months and median PFS of 5.3 months, which did not meet the pre-specified endpoint of efficacy. The treatment combination was well tolerated with the most common treatment-related toxicity being decreased lymphocyte and neutrophil counts. CONCLUSION: While clinical benefit was observed with the combination, it did not meet its pre-specified endpoint for efficacy in patients with KRAS/NRAS/BRAF WT EGFR therapy-naïve mCRC patients. Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT03446157.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Ophthalmic Complications Associated With the Antidiabetic Drugs Semaglutide and Tirzepatide

  JAMA Ophthalmology · 2025-01-30 · 52 citations

  letterOpen access

  Importance: Nearly 2% of the US population received a prescription for semaglutide in 2023. There has been a recent concern that this drug and other similar medications may be associated with ophthalmic complications. Objective: To report ophthalmic complications associated with the use of semaglutide or tirzepatide. Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a retrospective case series. All patients were initially seen in a community setting. Patients experiencing an ophthalmic complication in association with the use of semaglutide or tirzepatide were included in this analysis. Exposures: Patients described were using either semaglutide or tirzepatide. Main Outcomes and Measures: Visual acuity and visual field defects. Results: A total of 9 patients (mean [SD] age, 57.4 [11.6] years; age range, 37-77 years; 5 female [56%]; 4 male [44%]) were included in this study. Seven patients with nonarteritic ischemic anterior optic neuropathy, 1 patient with bilateral papillitis, and 1 patient with paracentral acute middle maculopathy were reported. Atypical features included sequential ischemic optic neuropathy, bilateral disc swelling at presentation, and progressive vision loss. Conclusions and Relevance: In this case series study, it was not possible to determine if there is a causal link between these drugs and the ophthalmic complications reported. In some cases, it is hypothesized that rapid correction of hyperglycemia induced by these drugs, rather than a toxic effect of the drugs, could be associated with the ophthalmic complications reported.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Arthroscopic Broström-Gould Stabilization

  Clinics in Podiatric Medicine and Surgery · 2025-04-08

  review1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Comparison of survival outcomes for patients with Stage III vs de novo Stage IV breast cancer

  Cancer · 2025-05-06 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access1st author

  PURPOSE: Improvements in systemic therapy have resulted in significant heterogeneity in survival outcomes for metastatic breast cancer patients. As such, recently proposed staging guidelines for de novo metastatic breast cancer stratify patients into four categories (IVA/IVB/IVC/IVD). Expanding on this, overall survival (OS) outcomes for patients with Stage III vs Stage IV breast cancer were compared based on the previously defined American Joint Committee on Cancer guidelines and recently proposed subgroups for de novo metastatic breast cancer. METHODS: Adult patients diagnosed with Stage III or IV breast cancer in the National Cancer Database (2010-2019) were stratified as IIIA/B/C (American Joint Committee on Cancer, 8th edition) or IVA/B/C/D. OS was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazards models estimated the association between stage subgroups and OS. RESULTS: Among 81,128 patients (median follow-up, 76.8 months), 83.5% were Stage III and 16.5% Stage IV. Unadjusted 3-year OS rates were 85.7% for Stage III versus 68.3% for Stage IV. From Stage III to Stage IV, OS declined but there was notable convergence in OS between subgroups. The unadjusted 3-year OS for IIIC was 69.6%, which was lower than IVA (87.0%) and IVB (78.4%). Adjusted analysis showed similar trends, with the HR for IIIC at 1.94, which was worse than IVA at 1.20 and IVB at 1.83 (ref: IIIA, overall p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: It was demonstrated that the survival outcomes for select patients with Stage IV breast cancer have significant convergence in OS with some patients with Stage III disease. These findings may be important for patient counseling, treatment approaches, and clinical trial design.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Correlation Between Visual Acuity and Automated Visual Field Foveal Threshold

  Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology · 2025-03-03

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Previous studies have determined a signficant correlation between, foveal threshold on automated visual field perimetry and best-corrected visual acuity. To our knowledge, these correlations have not been studied using the Octopus (Haag-Streit, Köniz, Switzerland) perimeter. METHODS: Patients underwent Octopus automated visual field testing using the glaucoma tendency-oriented perimetry protocol where a foveal threshold value was collected. Visual acuity was determined in the patient's current refractive glasses and/or with pinhole acuity. Visual acuity was converted from Snellen to logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) for statistical analysis. Spearman correlation coefficient was used to determine correlation between visual acuity and foveal threshold value. RESULTS: A total of 332 eyes (243 diseased eyes and 89 healthy eyes) were assessed. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between visual acuity and foveal threshold ( P < 0.001). The estimated foveal threshold was statistically significantly decreased by 1.2 dB per every 0.1 logMAR increase of visual acuity ( P < 0.001). A foveal threshold of 27.47 or higher predicted a visual acuity of 20/40 or better with 90% confidence. CONCLUSIONS: Patient best-corrected logMAR visual acuity has a negative correlation with foveal threshold in automated (Octopus) visual field testing. Our findings suggest that foveal threshold may predict measured visual acuity. We created a website application to predict visual acuity based on foveal threshold, age, and presence or absence of ocular pathology. Foveal threshold may represent a surrogate estimate of acuity for patients who are unable to read the Snellen chart and for patients with functional vision loss.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Gene signatures derived from transcriptomic-causal networks stratify colorectal cancer patients for effective targeted therapy

  Communications Medicine · 2025-01-08 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Gene signatures derived from transcriptomic-causal networks offer potential for tailoring clinical care in cancer treatment by identifying predictive and prognostic biomarkers. This study aimed to uncover such signatures in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients to aid treatment decisions. METHODS: We constructed transcriptomic-causal networks and integrated gene interconnectivity into overall survival (OS) analysis to control for confounding genes. This integrative approach involved germline genotype and tumor RNA-seq data from 1165 metastatic CRC patients. The patients were enrolled in a randomized clinical trial receiving either cetuximab or bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy. An external cohort of paired CRC normal and tumor samples, along with protein-protein interaction databases, was used for replication. RESULTS: We identify promising predictive and prognostic gene signatures from pre-treatment gene expression profiles. Our study discerns sets of genes, each forming a signature that collectively contribute to define patient subgroups with different prognosis and response to the therapies. Using an external cohort, we show that the genes influencing OS within the signatures, such as FANCI and PRC1, are upregulated in CRC tumor vs. normal tissue. These signatures are highly associated with immune features, including macrophages, cytotoxicity, and wound healing. Furthermore, the corresponding proteins encoded by the genes within the signatures interact with each other and are functionally related. CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the utility of gene signatures derived from transcriptomic-causal networks in patient stratification for effective therapies. The interpretability of the findings, supported by replication, highlights the potential of these signatures to identify patients likely to benefit from cetuximab or bevacizumab.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• ASO Visual Abstract: Short-Term Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Bilateral Risk-Reducing Mastectomy for Patients at High Risk for Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review

  Annals of Surgical Oncology · 2025-01-23

  review
  PublisherDOI

• Short-term Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Bilateral Risk-Reducing Mastectomy for Patients at a High Risk for Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review

  Annals of Surgical Oncology · 2025-01-04 · 2 citations

  reviewOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Mark A. Olson

  72 shared

• In‐Chul Yeh

  DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory

  54 shared

• Scott Kopetz

  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

  52 shared

• Nicholas J. Volpe

  Northwestern Medicine

  39 shared

• Van K. Morris

  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

  39 shared

• Benny Johnson

  Agenus (United States)

  37 shared

• Steven Galetta

  35 shared

• Grant T. Liu

  University of Pennsylvania

  35 shared

Education

• MD

  Duke University School of Medicine

  2009

• BS, Department of Biomedical Engineering

  Johns Hopkins University

  2005