Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39681999›Full record

ArticleHead & neck2025

Nodal Yield From Neck Dissection Predicts the Anti-Tumor Immune Response in Head and Neck Cancers.

Shuqing Chen, Justin M Pyne, Yulun Liu, Youstina Abraham, Zhuoyu Wen, Doreen Palsgrove, Guanghua Xiao, John Truelson, Larry Myers, Brittny Tillman and 8 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Head & neck, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

18 authors.

Shuqing ChenDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Justin M PyneDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1389-2151
Yulun LiuDepartment of Bioinformatics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Youstina AbrahamDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Zhuoyu WenDepartment of Bioinformatics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Doreen PalsgroveDepartment of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Guanghua XiaoDepartment of Bioinformatics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
John TruelsonDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Larry MyersDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Brittny TillmanDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Andrew DayDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7187-4125
Eli GordinDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4178-8557
Lenka StankovaDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Yang XieDepartment of Bioinformatics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
David SherDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Simmons Cancer Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3943-7480
Justin BishopDepartment of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Jinming GaoDepartment of Otolayngology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Baran D SumerDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.

Funding

UT Southwestern Medical Center Simmons Comprehensive Cancer CenterP30CA142543 · NCI · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · PI MELANIE H. COBB · 2010 to 2026
$53.7M
UT Southwestern Center for Translational Medicine (UL1/KL2/TL1)UL1TR001105 · NCATS · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · PI TOTO, ROBERT DANIEL · 2013 to 2017
$24.5M
A pH Responsive Transistor-like Nanoprobe for Sensitive Detection of Unknown Primary Cancers of the Head and NeckR01CA266146 · NCI · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · PI Baran D Sumer · 2022 to 2026
$2.8M
pH Transistor Nanoprobes for Detection of Occult Nodal MetastasesR01CA211930 · NCI · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · PI GAO, JINMING, SUMER, BARAN D · 2017 to 2021
$1.8M
National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health R01CA211930-01A1National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health R01CA266146-01National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health UL1TR001105NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001105NCI NIH HHS P30 CA142543NCI NIH HHS R01 CA211930NCI NIH HHS R01 CA266146
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLymph node count (LNC) from neck dissection has been associated with undernutrition and survival in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). As local components of the immune system, cervical lymph nodes may reflect anti-tumor immune status. This study investigates the relationship between decreased LNC, formation of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS), and primary tumor infiltration by lymphocytes in undernourished patients.

methodsA matched-cohort study was conducted in a tertiary medical center, where neck dissection quality was standardized for a total of 384 subjects that were evaluated. Six head and neck cancer patients that underwent primary surgery including neck dissection with low LNC and BMI (low BMI < 23, low LNC ≤ 5.6 per neck level) were matched by stage, p16 status, and subsite to 16 patients with normal BMI and high LNC. Multiplexed immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and the number and quality of TLS within primary tumors. Whole primary cancers underwent automated analysis and counting of leukocytes after multiplexed immunohistochemistry staining of tumor slides. A head and neck pathologist blindly scored the number and maturity of TLS. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze outcomes.

resultsThe patients with low BMI and low LNC had significantly fewer CD3 (p = 0.0136), CD8 (p = 0.0003), and CD20 (p = 0.0334) cells in their primary tumors compared to patients with normal BMI and LNC. The low BMI low LNC patients also had fewer mature TLS (0.83/tumor) in their primary cancers compared to patients with normal BMI and high LNC (5.4/tumor) and also had greater than fourfold lower mature TLS density (TLS per μm

conclusionLow LNC predicts worsened survival only in low BMI HNSCC patients with non-HPV related tumors and in these patients is associated with markers of immunosuppression such as fewer tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T-cells, CD20+ cells, and fewer TLS in primary cancers compared to matched normal BMI patients with high LNC.

Indexed as

Head and Neck NeoplasmsLymph Node RatioMalnutritionNeck DissectionSquamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and NeckAgedBody Mass IndexCase-Control StudiesFemaleHumansImmunohistochemistryKaplan-Meier EstimateLymph NodesLymphocytes, Tumor-InfiltratingMaleMiddle Agedbody mass indexhead and neck cancerimmune statuslymph nodesurvival

Identifiers

PMID39681999
PMCPMC11907675

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.