Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34604090›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in oncology2021

High Throughput Transcriptome Data Analysis and Computational Verification Reveal Immunotherapy Biomarkers of Compound Kushen Injection for Treating Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Xinkui Liu, Yang Wu, Yingying Zhang, Dechao Bu, Chao Wu, Shan Lu, Zhihong Huang, Yurong Song, Yi Zhao, Fengying Guo and 7 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in oncology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 40% 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Effect ofFrontiers in pharmacology · 2025
    Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
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

17 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Xinkui LiuSchool of Chinese Pharmacy, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Yang WuKey Laboratory of Intelligent Information Processing, Advanced Computer Research Center, Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Yingying ZhangDepartment of Vascular Neurosurgery, New Era Stroke Care and Research Institute, The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force Characteristic Medical Center, Beijing, China.
Dechao BuPervasive Computing Research Center, Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Chao WuSchool of Chinese Pharmacy, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Shan LuSchool of Chinese Pharmacy, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Zhihong HuangSchool of Chinese Pharmacy, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Yurong SongSchool of Chinese Pharmacy, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Yi ZhaoKey Laboratory of Intelligent Information Processing, Advanced Computer Research Center, Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Fengying GuoSchool of Management, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Peizhi YeNational Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Changgeng FuXiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Liangliang ShenSchool of Chinese Pharmacy, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Jingyuan ZhangSchool of Chinese Pharmacy, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Haojia WangSchool of Chinese Pharmacy, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Xianchun DuanDepartment of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China.
Jiarui WuSchool of Chinese Pharmacy, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Beijing University of Chinese Medicine · CNChinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College · CNAnhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine · CNChinese Academy of Sciences · CNInstitute of Computing Technology · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough notable therapeutic and prognostic benefits of compound kushen injection (CKI) have been found when it was used alone or in combination with chemotherapy or radiotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) treatment, the effects of CKI on TNBC microenvironment remain largely unclear. This study aims to construct and validate a predictive immunotherapy signature of CKI on TNBC.

methodsThe UPLC-Q-TOF-MS technology was firstly used to investigate major constituents of CKI. RNA sequencing data of CKI-perturbed TNBC cells were analyzed to detect differential expression genes (DEGs), and the GSVA algorithm was applied to explore significantly changed pathways regulated by CKI. Additionally, the ssGSEA algorithm was used to quantify immune cell abundance in TNBC patients, and these patients were classified into distinct immune infiltration subgroups by unsupervised clustering. Then, prognosis-related genes were screened from DEGs among these subgroups and were further overlapped with the DEGs regulated by CKI. Finally, a predictive immunotherapy signature of CKI on TNBC was constructed based on the LASSO regression algorithm to predict mortality risks of TNBC patients, and the signature was also validated in another TNBC cohort.

resultsTwenty-three chemical components in CKI were identified by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS analysis. A total of 3692 DEGs were detected in CKI-treated versus control groups, and CKI significantly activated biological processes associated with activation of T, natural killer and natural killer T cells. Three immune cell infiltration subgroups with 1593 DEGs were identified in TNBC patients. Then, two genes that can be down-regulated by CKI with hazard ratio (HR) > 1 and 26 genes that can be up-regulated by CKI with HR < 1 were selected as key immune- and prognosis-related genes regulated by CKI. Lastly, a five-gene prognostic signature comprising two risky genes (MARVELD2 and DYNC2I2) that can be down-regulated by CKI and three protective genes (RASSF2, FERMT3 and RASSF5) that can be up-regulated by CKI was developed, and it showed a good performance in both training and test sets.

conclusionsThis study proposes a predictive immunotherapy signature of CKI on TNBC, which would provide more evidence for survival prediction and treatment guidance in TNBC as well as a paradigm for exploring immunotherapy biomarkers in compound medicines.

Indexed as

compound kushen injectionprognostic signatureRNA sequencingtriple-negative breast cancertumor microenvironment

Identifiers

PMID34604090
PMCPMC8484800
OpenAlexW3201259732

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.