Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34823553›Full record

ArticleDiagnostic pathology2021

Identification of factors related to immunotherapy efficacy and prognosis in patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Xuanli Xu, Rongrong Li, Lin Zhang, Guopei Zhu, Dandan Ren, Lijia Wu, Xiaoli Gong

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Diagnostic pathology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 22% 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

6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Multi-omics and machine learning-driven CD8Molecular therapy. Nucleic acids · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
  6. 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

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Xuanli Xu *Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Head and Neck Oncology, the Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, No.639 Zhizaoju Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, 200011, China.
Rongrong Li *Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Head and Neck Oncology, the Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, No.639 Zhizaoju Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, 200011, China.
Lin ZhangDepartment of Oral and Maxillofacial Head and Neck Oncology, the Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, No.639 Zhizaoju Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, 200011, China. dixonzl@163.com.
Guopei ZhuDepartment of Oral and Maxillofacial Head and Neck Oncology, the Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, No.639 Zhizaoju Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, 200011, China. antica@gmail.com.
Dandan RenGenecast Biotechnology Co., Ltd, 88 Danshan Road, Xidong Chuangrong Building, 214104, Wuxi, China.
Lijia WuGenecast Biotechnology Co., Ltd, 88 Danshan Road, Xidong Chuangrong Building, 214104, Wuxi, China.
Xiaoli GongGenecast Biotechnology Co., Ltd, 88 Danshan Road, Xidong Chuangrong Building, 214104, Wuxi, China.
Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital · CNGenecast (China) · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundImmunotherapy is an important treatment in oncology, but only a fraction of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) benefit from it. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify predictive biomarkers of immunotherapy response for HNSCC in order to improve treatment outcomes.

methodsSurvival analyses and comparative efficacy evaluation were performed to investigate prognostic and therapeutic impact factors in patients with advanced HNSCC following immunotherapy, and to examine the effects of factors including gene mutations, tumor mutational burden (TMB), mutant-allele tumor heterogeneity (MATH), and immune cell infiltration on the survival and efficacy.

resultsAnti-PD-1 treatment led to a prolonged overall survival (OS) in HNSCC patients with gene mutations compared with those without the mutations, while no significant difference in the OS was found between the two groups of patients. And no marked association between the MATH value and OS was detected in HNSCC patients, whereas patients with either high TMB scores in tissues and blood or high immune cell infiltration displayed a significantly longer OS. Further analysis with efficacy as the primary endpoint revealed no significant differences in the tissue TMB, blood TMB, and MATH value between the patients who responded to immunotherapy and those who did not. Moreover, no significant differences in the expression percentages of positive immune cells in tumor, stroma, and total regions were identified between the above two groups of patients.

conclusionHNSCC is characterized by high mutation rate, high mutation burden, and high level of immune cell infiltration, and a subset of HNSCC patients respond to immunotherapy. Here, we showed that high mutation burden and immune cell infiltration may improve the prognosis of HNSCC patients with immunotherapy, while there was no remarkable effect on the efficacy.

Indexed as

ImmunotherapyBiomarkers, TumorFemaleHead and Neck NeoplasmsHumansImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsMaleMiddle AgedMutationProgrammed Cell Death 1 ReceptorRetrospective StudiesRisk AssessmentRisk FactorsSquamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and NeckTime FactorsTreatment OutcomeBiomarkers, TumorImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsPDCD1 protein, humanProgrammed Cell Death 1 ReceptorEfficacyHead and neck squamous cell carcinomaImmunotherapyPrognosis

Identifiers

PMID34823553
PMCPMC8620526
OpenAlexW3216402825

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.