Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34717154›Full record

Trial reportOral oncology2021

Characterization of the immune response in patients with cancer of the oral cavity after neoadjuvant immunotherapy with the IRX-2 regimen.

Siyu Liu, Emily Bellile, Ariane Nguyen, Katie Zarins, Nisha D'Silva, Laura Rozek, Gregory T Wolf, Maureen A Sartor, INSPIRE Trial Clinical Investigators

Open access · greenAbstract readClinical Trial, Phase IIRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Oral oncology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 34% 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, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trends in immunotherapy for oral squamous cell carcinoma.Cellular oncology (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2025
    Review
  2. Neoadjuvant Treatment Approaches to Oral Cancer.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Immunotherapy: The Fourth Domain in Oral Cancer Therapeutics.Indian journal of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery : official publication of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India · 2024
    Article
  5. Review
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

9 authors at 12 institutions in 2 countries.

Siyu LiuDepartment of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Emily BellileDepartment of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Ariane NguyenDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Katie ZarinsDepartment of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Nisha D'SilvaDepartment of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA.
Laura RozekDepartment of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Gregory T WolfDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Electronic address: gregwolf@med.umich.edu.
Maureen A SartorDepartment of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Electronic address: sartorma@umich.edu.
INSPIRE Trial Clinical Investigators
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor · USMichigan Medicine · USBanner - University Medical Center Tucson · USEmory University · USHospital de Base · BRHospital Erasto Gaertner · BRHospital of the University of Pennsylvania · USInstituto Nacional do Câncer · BRProvidence College · USStanford Medicine · USUniversity of Kentucky · USUniversity of Southern California · US

Funding

XenograftP30CA046592 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Eric R. Fearon · 1988 to 2026
$178.2M
Strategic Vision & Impact on Environmental HealthP30ES017885 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Dana Dolinoy · 2011 to 2026
$21.3M
Strategies to Overcome Immune Resistance in Head and Neck CancersP01CA240239 · NCI · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI SARTOR, MAUREEN AGNES · 2019 to 2023
$8.4M
Downstream effects of HPV integration on survival/metastasis in oropharyngeal cancerR01CA250214 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI D'SILVA, NISHA J, ROZEK, LAURA · 2020 to 2024
$3.1M
NCI NIH HHS P01 CA240239NCI NIH HHS P30 CA046592NCI NIH HHS R01 CA250214NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES017885
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveIRX-2 is a homologous cell-derived multi-cytokine biologic with multifaceted immune modulatory effects that has been shown to induce increased lymphocyte infiltration into primary tumors in oral cavity carcinoma. Our objective was to characterize tumor immune gene expression and epigenomic changes after neoadjuvant IRX-2 immunotherapy in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity.

methodsA randomized phase II trial was conducted of the IRX regimen 3 weeks prior to surgery for previously untreated patients with Stage II-IV oral cavity carcinoma. The treatment regimen consisted of low dose (300 mg/m

resultsA total of 51 and 79 immune-related genes were found upregulated and downregulated, respectively, in the samples from Regimen 1 patients after treatment, while 51 and 56 were found upregulated and downregulated in the samples for Regimen 2. When comparing the changes between the two regimens, we identified 9 genes significantly different, including DMBT1, a potential tumor suppressor, functioning in tumor invasion of head and neck cancer. The exploration of DNA methylation showed slight overall hypermethylation after treatment in both regimens, especially for Regimen 1 immune responders, and methylation-based cell type deconvolution demonstrated high concordance with tumor infiltrating T lymphocyte cell counts.

conclusionWhile a consistent patient response after treatment was observed, most changes were similar between regimens, indicating a subtle, targeted, or patient-specific effect of IRX-2 cytokines. Change in DMBT1 expression was a unique finding that will require further study to better understand its significance.

Indexed as

Head and Neck NeoplasmsNeoadjuvant TherapyCalcium-Binding ProteinsCytokinesDNA-Binding ProteinsHumansImmunityImmunotherapyMouthTumor Suppressor ProteinsCalcium-Binding ProteinsCytokinesDMBT1 protein, humanDNA-Binding ProteinsIRX 2Tumor Suppressor ProteinsCytokineImmunotherapyNanoStringNeoadjuvantOral cavity carcinomaTumor infiltrating lymphocytes

Identifiers

PMID34717154
PMCPMC8982160
OpenAlexW3210080788

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
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.