ArticleNeuro-oncology2020
Phase I study of intraventricular infusions of autologous ex vivo expanded NK cells in children with recurrent medulloblastoma and ependymoma.
Article in Neuro-oncology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
62 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Outcomes of immunotherapy in medulloblastoma: a systematic review.The oncologist · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of natural killer cell therapy in patients with solid tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Pooled it
- Identifying SARS-CoV-2 'memory' NK cells from COVID-19 convalescent donors for adoptive cell therapy.Immunology · 2022Trial
- From developmental origins to relapse: molecular and therapeutic insights in medulloblastoma.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2026Review
- Novel NK cell-like phenotype expressing CCR5 and its ligands elicits tumor-specific acquired immunity to carcinomatous peritonitis via host NK-derived IFN-γ.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2026Article
- The promise of immunotherapy for central nervous system tumours.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2026Review
- Cell therapy for brain tumors: The first 60 years.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Review
- Update of NK cell therapy in pediatric brain tumors.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2026Review
- NK cell infusion is well-tolerated and shows preliminary efficacy in patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma post-liver transplantation : a phase I trial.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Article
- 3D chemotaxis chip for investigating natural killer cell migration mechanisms.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- National multicentered retrospective review of salvage therapy for pediatric medulloblastoma: a Canadian experience.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2025Article
- EphA2 and phosphoantigen-mediated selective killing of medulloblastoma by γδT cells preserves neuronal and stem cell integrity.Oncoimmunology · 2025Article
- Cancer-derived extracellular vesicles in natural killer cell immune evasion: Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic insights.Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2025Review
- Prospects and applications of NK therapy in the treatment of gliomas (Review).Oncology reports · 2025Review
- The safety and feasibility of multiple intrathecal injections of allogenic NK cells in pediatrics with refractory/recurrent brain tumors.BMC cancer · 2025Article
- Cytokines in Focus: IL-2 and IL-15 in NK Adoptive Cell Cancer Immunotherapy.Immune network · 2025Review
- Enhancing human NK cell antitumor function by knocking out SMAD4 to counteract TGFβ and activin A suppression.Nature immunology · 2025Article
- Preclinical and Clinical-Scale Magnetic Particle Imaging of Natural Killer Cells: in vitro and ex vivo Demonstration of Cellular Sensitivity, Resolution, and Quantification.Molecular imaging and biology · 2025Article
- Advances in the Repurposing and Blood-Brain Barrier Penetrance of Drugs in Pediatric Brain Tumors.Cancers · 2025Review
- Overcoming Treatment Resistance in Medulloblastoma: Underlying Mechanisms and Potential Strategies.Cancers · 2024Review
2 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
21 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRecurrent pediatric medulloblastoma and ependymoma have a grim prognosis. We report a first-in-human, phase I study of intraventricular infusions of ex vivo expanded autologous natural killer (NK) cells in these tumors, with correlative studies.
methodsTwelve patients were enrolled, 9 received protocol therapy up to 3 infusions weekly, in escalating doses from 3 × 106 to 3 × 108 NK cells/m2/infusion, for up to 3 cycles. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was obtained for cellular profile, persistence, and phenotypic analysis of NK cells. Radiomic characterization on pretreatment MRI scans was performed in 7 patients, to develop a non-invasive imaging-based signature.
resultsPrimary objectives of NK cell harvest, expansion, release, and safety of 112 intraventricular infusions of NK cells were achieved in all 9 patients. There were no dose-limiting toxicities. All patients showed progressive disease (PD), except 1 patient showed stable disease for one month at end of study follow-up. Another patient had transient radiographic response of the intraventricular tumor after 5 infusions of NK cell before progressing to PD. At higher dose levels, NK cells increased in the CSF during treatment with repetitive infusions (mean 11.6-fold). Frequent infusions of NK cells resulted in CSF pleocytosis. Radiomic signatures were profiled in 7 patients, evaluating ability to predict upfront radiographic changes, although they did not attain statistical significance.
conclusionsThis study demonstrated feasibility of production and safety of intraventricular infusions of autologous NK cells. These findings support further investigation of locoregional NK cell infusions in children with brain malignancies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.