Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34556668›Full record

ArticleNature communications2021

9p21 loss confers a cold tumor immune microenvironment and primary resistance to immune checkpoint therapy.

Guangchun Han, Guoliang Yang, Dapeng Hao, Yang Lu, Kyaw Thein, Benjamin S Simpson, Jianfeng Chen, Ryan Sun, Omar Alhalabi, Ruiping Wang and 22 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 143 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
143citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
13.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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

143 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 211 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  9. Article
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  11. Comprehensive Genomic and Transcriptomic Characterization of MTAP Loss across Advanced Solid Tumors.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2026
    Observational
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Presenting features and outcomes to standard systemic therapies in patients with MTAP-deleted advanced non-small cell lung cancer.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2026
    Article
  15. Review
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83 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

32 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

Guangchun Han *Department of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9277-2507
Guoliang Yang *Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Dapeng HaoDepartment of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Yang LuDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9571-4679
Kyaw TheinDepartment of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1518-1097
Benjamin S SimpsonTumour Immunogenomics and Immunosurveillance Laboratory, University College London Cancer Institute, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3685-6110
Jianfeng ChenDepartment of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Ryan SunDepartment of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Omar AlhalabiDepartment of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9658-2206
Ruiping WangDepartment of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Minghao DangDepartment of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Enyu DaiDepartment of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Shaojun ZhangDepartment of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Fengqi NieDepartment of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Shuangtao ZhaoDepartment of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Charles GuoDepartment of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Ameer HamzaDepartment of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Bogdan CzerniakDepartment of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Chao ChengDepartment of Medicine, Epidemiology and Population Science, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5002-3417
Arlene Siefker-RadtkeDepartment of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Krishna BhatDepartment of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2020-8509
Andrew FutrealDepartment of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8663-2671
Guang PengDepartment of Clinical Cancer Prevention, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4392-1497
Jennifer WargoDepartment of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3438-7576
Weiyi PengDepartment of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7785-6240
Humam KadaraDepartment of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Jaffer AjaniDepartment of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9946-0629
Charles SwantonCancer Evolution and Genome Instability Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4299-3018
Kevin LitchfieldTumour Immunogenomics and Immunosurveillance Laboratory, University College London Cancer Institute, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3725-0914
Jordi Rodon AhnertDepartment of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Jianjun GaoDepartment of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. jgao1@mdanderson.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6138-4472
Linghua WangDepartment of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. LWang22@mdanderson.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9380-0266
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center · USBaylor College of Medicine · USCancer Research UK · GBLondon Cancer · GBThe Francis Crick Institute · GBUniversity of Houston · US

Funding

Convalescent Plasma to Limit Coronavirus Associated ComplicationsUL1TR003167 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · PI KARP, DANIEL D, MCPHERSON, DAVID D · 2019 to 2023
$45.3M
Effective combination therapy for MTAP-deficient bladder carcinoma by targeting metabolic vulnerability and modulating tumor immune microenvironmentR01CA254988 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · PI GAO, JIANJUN · 2021 to 2025
$2.6M
Decoding tumor metabolic and immunologic interactions driving racial disparity in African American patients with bladder cancer.R01CA282282 · NCI · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI Jianjun Gao, Nagireddy Putluri · 2023 to 2026
$2.5M
Cancer Research UK 17786Cancer Research UK 20466Cancer Research UK 25253Cancer Research UK 30025Medical Research Council MR/V033077/1NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR003167NCI NIH HHS R01 CA254988NCI NIH HHS R01 CA282282
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Immune checkpoint therapy (ICT) provides substantial clinical benefits to cancer patients, but a large proportion of cancers do not respond to ICT. To date, the genomic underpinnings of primary resistance to ICT remain elusive. Here, we performed immunogenomic analysis of data from TCGA and clinical trials of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy, with a particular focus on homozygous deletion of 9p21.3 (9p21 loss), one of the most frequent genomic defects occurring in ~13% of all cancers. We demonstrate that 9p21 loss confers "cold" tumor-immune phenotypes, characterized by reduced abundance of tumor-infiltrating leukocytes (TILs), particularly, T/B/NK cells, altered spatial TILs patterns, diminished immune cell trafficking/activation, decreased rate of PD-L1 positivity, along with activation of immunosuppressive signaling. Notably, patients with 9p21 loss exhibited significantly lower response rates to ICT and worse outcomes, which were corroborated in eight ICT trials of >1,000 patients. Further, 9p21 loss synergizes with PD-L1/TMB for patient stratification. A "response score" was derived by incorporating 9p21 loss, PD-L1 expression and TMB levels in pre-treatment tumors, which outperforms PD-L1, TMB, and their combination in identifying patients with high likelihood of achieving sustained response from otherwise non-responders. Moreover, we describe potential druggable targets in 9p21-loss tumors, which could be exploited to design rational therapeutic interventions.

Indexed as

Chromosome DeletionB7-H1 AntigenBiomarkers, TumorChromosomes, Human, Pair 9Drug Resistance, NeoplasmHomozygoteHumansImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsImmune ToleranceImmunotherapyLymphocytes, Tumor-InfiltratingNeoplasmsPrognosisSignal TransductionTumor MicroenvironmentB7-H1 AntigenBiomarkers, TumorCD274 protein, humanImmune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Identifiers

PMID34556668
PMCPMC8460828
OpenAlexW3200875713

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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.