ReviewThe British journal of surgery2021
Neoadjuvant immunotherapy in primary and metastatic colorectal cancer.
Review in The British journal of surgery, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 4 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
76 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 131 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neoadjuvant Immune Checkpoint Inhibition in MSI-H/dMMR Colorectal Cancer: A Systematic Review of Prospective Trials Evaluating Efficacy, Pathologic Response, and Surgical Outcomes.Journal of gastrointestinal cancer · 2025Pooled it
- The neoadjuvant immunotherapy for non-metastatic mismatch repair-deficient colorectal cancer: a systematic review.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Pooled it
- Neoadjuvant therapy for colorectal cancer from 2015 to 2024: a visual analysis and bibliometric analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of neoadjuvant immunotherapy for non-metastatic colorectal cancer.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Pooled it
- Androgen deprivation, androgen receptor-targeted vaccination, and nivolumab in patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2026Trial
- Neoadjuvant Pembrolizumab in Localized Microsatellite Instability High/Deficient Mismatch Repair Solid Tumors.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2023Trial
- Clinical Applications of Liquid Biopsy in Colorectal Cancer: A Focus on Registered Clinical Trials.Genes · 2026Review
- Predicting histopathological growth patterns and prognosis of colorectal liver metastases using MRI.European radiology · 2026Article
- Long-term outcomes following a pathological complete response at the primary tumor site after preoperative therapy in metastatic colorectal cancer.The oncologist · 2026Article
- Early- and advanced-stage MSI-H non-colorectal cancers: best management and challenges in 2025.ESMO gastrointestinal oncology · 2026Review
- CD103-Positive Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Predict a Favorable Prognosis in Colorectal Cancer with Liver Metastasis.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Article
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- ANT1 suppression inhibits the progression of colorectal cancer by suppressing PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy.Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica · 2025Article
- Long-term survival after multimodality treatment of metastatic mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma of colon: A case report.World journal of gastrointestinal surgery · 2025Article
- Spontaneous colonic transection following pathologic complete response to pembrolizumab in high microsatellite instability colorectal cancer: A case report and review of literature.World journal of clinical cases · 2025Article
- Assessment for cytotoxic properties ofCytotechnology · 2025Article
- Bibliometric analysis of immune dysregulation and immunotherapy in mismatch repair-deficient colon cancer.Discover oncology · 2025Article
- Article
- Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy Followed by Surgery Compared with Upfront Surgery Alone in Operable Colon Cancer with Deficient Mismatch Repair: Modeling Oncological Outcomes and Numbers Needed to Treat.Annals of surgical oncology · 2025Article
16 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
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundColorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common solid organ cancer. Traditional treatment is with surgery and chemotherapy. Immunotherapy has recently emerged as a neoadjuvant therapy that could change treatment strategy in both primary resectable and metastatic CRC.
methodsA literature review of PubMed with a focus on studies exploring upfront immunotherapy in operable CRC, either for primary resectable stage I-III cancers or for (potentially) operable liver metastasis.
resultsImmune checkpoint blockade by the programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) receptor inhibitors nivolumab and pembrolizumab and the cytotoxic T cell-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitor ipilimumab has shown good results in both early-stage and advanced CRC. The effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors have so far been demonstrated in small phase I/II studies and predominantly in treatment-refractory stage IV disease with defect Mismatch repair (dMMR). However, recent data from phase I/II (NICHE-1) studies suggest an upfront role for immunotherapy in operable stage I-III disease. By blocking crucial immune checkpoints, cytotoxic T cells are activated and release cytotoxic signals that initiate cancer cell destruction. The very high complete response rate in dMMR operable CRC with neoadjuvant immunotherapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab, and even partial pathological response in some patients with proficient MMR (pMMR) CRC, calls for further attention to patient selection for neoadjuvant treatment, beyond MMR status alone.
conclusionEarly data on the effect of immunotherapy in CRC provide new strategic thinking of treatment options in CRC for both early-stage and advanced disease, with prospects for new trials.
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.