Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30228945›Full record

ArticleOncoimmunology

Vitamin D deficiency in head and neck cancer patients - prevalence, prognostic value and impact on immune function.

Florian Bochen, Benedikt Balensiefer, Sandrina Körner, Jörg Thomas Bittenbring, Frank Neumann, Armand Koch, Klaus Bumm, Anke Marx, Silke Wemmert, Georgios Papaspyrou and 5 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Oncoimmunology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
41citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
4.3field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

41 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 64 citations in OpenAlex.

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  12. The vitamin DFrontiers in immunology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Florian BochenDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-1210-980X
Benedikt BalensieferDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
Sandrina KörnerDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-6435-2940
Jörg Thomas BittenbringDepartment of Hematology, Oncology, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
Frank NeumannDepartment of Hematology, Oncology, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
Armand KochDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Zitha Hospital, Luxemburg-City, Luxemburg.
Klaus BummDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Caritas Hospital, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Anke MarxDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
Silke WemmertDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
Georgios PapaspyrouDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
David ZuschlagDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
Jan Philipp KühnDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
Basel Al KadahDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
Bernhard SchickDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
Maximilian LinxweilerDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany.
Saarland University · DEcts CaritasKlinikum Saarbrücken · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Vitamin D deficiency is frequently observed in human cancer patients and a prognostic relevance could be shown for some entities. Additionally, it is known that vitamin D can stimulate the patients' antitumor immunity. However, valid epidemiological data for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients are sparse and functional studies on a possible connection between vitamin D and the patients' immune system are missing. 25-OH vitamin D serum levels were analyzed in 231 HNSCC patients and 232 healthy controls and correlated with clinical data and patient survival. Intra- and peritumoral infiltration with T-cell, NK-cell and macrophage populations was analyzed in 102 HNSCC patients by immunohistochemistry. In 11 HNSCC patients, NK-cells were isolated before and after vitamin D substitution and analyzed for their cytotoxic activity directed against a HNSCC cell line. Vitamin D serum levels were significantly lower in HNSCC patients compared with healthy controls. Low vitamin D levels were associated with lymphatic metastasis and a negative HPV status and were a significant predictor of poor overall survival. HNSCC patients with severe vitamin D deficiency showed significantly altered intra- and peritumoral immune cell infiltrate levels. After vitamin D substitution, the patients' NK cells showed a significant rise in cytotoxic activity. Taken together, we could show that Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in HNSCC patients and is a predictor of poor survival. Vitamin D substitution used as an adjuvant in immune therapies such as cetuximab and nivolumab treatment could support antitumorigenic immune responses, thus contributing to the improvement of the patients' prognosis in the context of a multimodal therapy.

Indexed as

head and neck cancerimmunooncologynatural killer cellsT cellsvitamin D

Identifiers

PMID30228945
PMCPMC6140588
OpenAlexW2884166523

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.