SynthesisPloS one2025
Animal models in preclinical metastatic breast cancer immunotherapy research: A systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy outcomes.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Review
- Telomeric Ends and Telomerase-Canonical and Non-Canonical Roles in Breast Cancer Tumorigenesis and Therapy Resistance.Biomedicines · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Breast cancer, particularly metastatic breast cancer (MBC), presents aggressive clinical challenges with limited treatment success. Immunotherapy has emerged as a promising approach, however, discrepancies between preclinical animal models and human cancers complicate translation to clinical outcomes. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the effect of immunotherapy on primary and metastatic tumor regression in animal models of MBC and assessed the models' appropriateness and reproducibility to improve future preclinical study design. Following a preregistered protocol in PROSPERO (CRD42021207033), we conducted searches in MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science databases, yielding 2255 studies for title/abstract screening and 108 studies included after full-text screening. All included studies used mouse models, assessing primary outcomes through tumor volume or weight and metastatic outcomes via nodule count or bioluminescence. Only 14% of studies fully reported experimental animal characteristics, and 43% provided detailed experimental procedures. Of 105 articles (293 comparisons) included in the meta-analysis, pooled effect sizes indicated significant reductions in both primary and metastatic tumors. However, high heterogeneity across studies and wide prediction intervals suggested substantial variability in model responses to immunotherapy. Univariable and multivariable meta-regressions failed to significantly explain this heterogeneity, suggesting additional factors may influence outcomes. Trim-and-fill and Egger's regression tests indicated funnel plot asymmetry, implying potential publication bias and small study effects. While our analysis demonstrated positive effects of immunotherapy on MBC and highlighted variability in animal tumor models, addressing model-related heterogeneity and enhancing methodological transparency are essential to improve reproducibility and clinical translatability.
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.