Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36826594›Full record

ArticleJournal of cancer research and clinical oncology2023

Dissecting the inflammatory tumor microenvironment of esophageal adenocarcinoma: mast cells and natural killer cells are favorable prognostic factors and associated with less extensive disease.

Alyne Condurú Dos Santos Cunha, Adrian Georg Simon, Thomas Zander, Reinhard Buettner, Christiane Josephine Bruns, Wolfgang Schroeder, Florian Gebauer, Alexander Quaas

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 19% 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, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. The Potential Role ofMicroorganisms · 2025
    Review
  4. Review
  5. The Underappreciated Role of Eosinophils in Esophageal Cancer.Cellular and molecular gastroenterology and hepatology · 2023
    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

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Alyne Condurú Dos Santos Cunha *Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Cologne, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, DE-50937, Cologne, Germany.
Adrian Georg Simon *Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Cologne, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, DE-50937, Cologne, Germany. adrian.simon@uk-koeln.de.
Thomas ZanderDepartment of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Cologne, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Reinhard BuettnerInstitute of Pathology, University Hospital Cologne, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, DE-50937, Cologne, Germany.
Christiane Josephine BrunsDepartment of General, Visceral and Cancer Surgery, University Hospital Cologne, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Wolfgang SchroederDepartment of General, Visceral and Cancer Surgery, University Hospital Cologne, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Florian GebauerDepartment of General, Visceral and Cancer Surgery, University Hospital Cologne, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Alexander QuaasInstitute of Pathology, University Hospital Cologne, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, DE-50937, Cologne, Germany.
University Hospital Cologne · DEUniversity of Cologne · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeEsophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) remains a challenging and lethal cancer entity. A promising target for new therapeutic approaches, as demonstrated by the success of immune checkpoint inhibitors, are tumor-associated immune cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME). However, the understanding of the TME in esophageal cancer remains limited and requires further investigation.

methodsOver 900 EAC samples were included, including patients treated with primary surgery and neoadjuvant (radio-)chemotherapy. The immune cell infiltrates of mast cells (MC), natural killer cells (NK cells), plasma cells (PC), and eosinophilic cells (EC) were assessed semi-quantitatively and correlated with histopathological parameters and overall survival (OS).

resultsA high presence of all four immune cell types significantly correlated with a less extensive tumor stage and a lower frequency of lymph node metastasis, and, in case of NK cells, with less distant metastasis. The presence of MC and NK cells was favorably associated with a prolonged OS in the total cohort (MC: p < 0.001; NK cells: p = 0.004) and patients without neoadjuvant treatment (MC: p < 0.001; NK cells: p = 0.01). NK cells were a favorable prognostic factor in the total cohort (p = 0.007) and in the treatment-naïve subgroup (p = 0.04). Additionally, MC were a favorable prognostic factor in patients with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.009).

conclusionOur results indicate a complex and important role of mast cells, NK cells, and the other assessed immune cells in the tumor microenvironment of EAC. Therefore, they are one further step to a better understanding of the immune cell environment and the potential therapeutic implications in this cancer entity.

Indexed as

AdenocarcinomaEsophageal NeoplasmsHumansKiller Cells, NaturalLymphatic MetastasisMast CellsPrognosisTumor MicroenvironmentEsophageal adenocarcinomaEsophageal cancerMast cellsNatural killer cellsTumor immune environmentTumor microenvironment

Identifiers

PMID36826594
PMCPMC10374824
OpenAlexW4321748398

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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.