SynthesisPloS one2012
Prognostic significance of tumor-associated macrophages in solid tumor: a meta-analysis of the literature.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 607 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
607 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 1,024 citations in OpenAlex.
- Modulation of tumor-associated macrophage activity with radiation therapy: a systematic review.Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al] · 2023Pooled it
- Monocytes acquire a tumor-associated IL1B program upon encountering patient-derived colon cancer organoids.Oncoimmunology · 2026Article
- Dental Pulp Stem Cell-Derived Secretome-Induced Reprogramming of Tongue Tumor Microenvironment.European journal of dentistry · 2026Article
- The Silent Vehicle: Validating the Biological Signals and Noises of Baculovirus Vectors in Macrophage-Targeted Vaccines.Vaccines · 2026Article
- Research advances on tumor-associated macrophages in pancreatic cancer.Biochemistry and biophysics reports · 2026Review
- Innovative immunotherapeutic strategies for thyroid cancer: challenges and opportunities.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026Review
- Pathophysiological roles of monocytes and macrophages in cancer.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2026Review
- Precision engineering of macrophage reprogramming with RNA interference-loaded lipid nanoparticles: a game-changer in cancer immunotherapy.Drug delivery and translational research · 2026Review
- Mechanisms of breast cancer dormancy in bone metastasis.Clinical & experimental metastasis · 2026Review
- Integrating Tumor Budding and the Invasive-Front Microenvironment in Colorectal Carcinoma: An Exploratory Histopathological Score-Based Association Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- PKM2-Mediated Glycolytic Reprogramming in Thyroid Cancer: Mechanistic Insights and Therapeutic Potential.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Integrative analysis of myeloid cell signatures identifies a prognostic risk model and potential mechanisms in bladder cancer.Biology direct · 2026Article
- Neoadjuvant mFOLFOX6 plus camrelizumab and apatinib in colon cancer and biomarker research via spatiotemporal-omics profiling.NPJ precision oncology · 2026Article
- Prognostic impact of tumor-associated macrophages in pediatric Ewing sarcoma, National Cancer Institute (2010-2020).World journal of surgical oncology · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal dynamics of radioresistance: decoding macrophage-driven radioprotective niches through temporal-spatial reprogramming.Molecular cancer · 2026Review
- Progastrin, annexin A2, and tumor-associated macrophages in gastric adenocarcinoma.Journal of pathology and translational medicine · 2026Article
- M2 macrophages promote lymphatic metastasis by regulating PKM2 nuclear translocation in triple-negative breast cancer.Cell death & disease · 2026Article
- The role of tumor-associated macrophages in cancer development and their significance as prognostic markers.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2026Review
- Article
- Tumor-associated macrophages in head and neck carcinoma: clinicopathological correlations and implications for immunotherapy.Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII · 2026Article
547 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTumor associated macrophages (TAMs) are considered with the capacity to have both negative and positive effects on tumor growth. The prognostic value of TAM for survival in patients with solid tumor remains controversial. EXPERIMENTAL
designWe conducted a meta-analysis of 55 studies (n = 8,692 patients) that evaluated the correlation between TAM (detected by immunohistochemistry) and clinical staging, overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS). The impact of M1 and M2 type TAM (n = 5) on survival was also examined.
resultsHigh density of TAM was significantly associated with late clinical staging in patients with breast cancer [risk ratio (RR) = 1.20 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.14-1.28)] and bladder cancer [RR = 3.30 (95%CI, 1.56-6.96)] and with early clinical staging in patients with ovarian cancer [RR = 0.52 (95%CI, 0.35-0.77)]. Negative effects of TAM on OS was shown in patients with gastric cancer [RR = 1.64 (95%CI, 1.24-2.16)], breast cancer [RR = 8.62 (95%CI, 3.10-23.95)], bladder cancer [RR = 5.00 (95%CI, 1.98-12.63)], ovarian cancer [RR = 2.55 (95%CI, 1.60-4.06)], oral cancer [RR = 2.03 (95%CI, 1.47-2.80)] and thyroid cancer [RR = 2.72 (95%CI, 1.26-5.86)],and positive effects was displayed in patients with colorectal cancer [RR = 0.64 (95%CI, 0.43-0.96)]. No significant effect was showed between TAM and DFS. There was also no significant effect of two phenotypes of TAM on survival.
conclusionsAlthough some modest bias cannot be excluded, high density of TAM seems to be associated with worse OS in patients with gastric cancer, urogenital cancer and head and neck cancer, with better OS in patients with colorectal cancer.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.