Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40436260›Full record

ArticleCancer letters2025

Anti-tumor effects on tumor-infiltrating natural killer cells by localized ablative immunotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors: An integrated and comparative study using scRNAseq analysis.

Kaili Liu, Ashley R Hoover, Yuanhong Sun, Trisha I Valerio, Coline Furrer, Jacob Adams, Lin Wang, Abdul Rafeh Naqash, Wei R Chen

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

Article in Cancer letters, 2025. 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
–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

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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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.

Kaili LiuStephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
Ashley R HooverStephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA; Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
Yuanhong SunStephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
Trisha I ValerioStephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
Coline FurrerStephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
Jacob AdamsStephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
Lin WangStephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
Abdul Rafeh NaqashMedical Oncology/ TSET Phase 1 Program, University of Oklahoma Stephenson Cancer Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
Wei R ChenStephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA. Electronic address: Wei-R-Chen@ou.edu.

Funding

Use of 3D Quantitative Optical Methods to Optimize Mebendazole Treatment of Ovarian CancerP20GM135009 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA · PI Javier Antonio Jo · 2022 to 2026
$13.6M
Potentiating a systemic antitumor response by interstitial localized ablative immunotherapy to synergize with immune checkpoint therapy for metastatic pancreatic tumorsR01CA269897 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA · PI Wei R. Chen, MIN LI · 2022 to 2026
$2.5M
Mechanistic study on synergistic photo-immunological effects of laser immunotherapy for metastatic cancersR01CA205348 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA · PI CHEN, WEI R. · 2017 to 2021
$1.5M
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA205348NCI NIH HHS R01 CA269897NIGMS NIH HHS P20 GM135009
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Localized ablative immunotherapy (LAIT), a combination of photothermal therapy (PTT) and the immunostimulant glycated chitosan (GC), has demonstrated therapeutic efficacy in cancer treatment. However, its impact on the tumor microenvironment (TME), particularly on tumor-infiltrating natural killer (TINK) cells, remains to be fully elucidated. Using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq), we analyzed the transcriptional and functional modulations of TINK cells by LAIT in a mouse breast cancer model. Additionally, we investigated immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-induced changes in NK cells across multiple cancer types and evaluated the clinical relevance of these transcriptional changes using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. ScRNAseq revealed five NK cell subtypes, with LAIT increasing the proportion of interferon-enriched NK cells and enhancing NK cell differentiation and cytotoxicity. Functional analyses demonstrated that LAIT upregulated activation, cytotoxic, and interferon pathway genes while downregulating immune-suppressive genes, effects largely driven by GC. Comparative analysis showed significant transcriptional overlap between ICI and LAIT, highlighting shared pathways in NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity and chemokine signaling. Prognostic models constructed from ICI- and LAIT-induced gene signatures effectively stratified breast cancer patients by survival risk, with LAIT-induced genes showing the highest predictive performance. Furthermore, higher NK cell proportions and the expression of key prognostic genes, such as PSME2, IGKC, and KLRB1, were associated with improved overall survival. LAIT and ICIs enhance NK cell-mediated antitumor responses via distinct yet complementary mechanisms, emphasizing their potential for synergistic use. These findings provide novel insights into NK cell modulation within the TME and support the development of combinatorial immunotherapy strategies.

Indexed as

Breast NeoplasmsImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsImmunotherapyKiller Cells, NaturalLymphocytes, Tumor-InfiltratingAnimalsFemaleGene Expression ProfilingHumansMiceNeoplasm TransplantationPhotothermal TherapyRisk AssessmentSingle-Cell Gene Expression AnalysisImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsImmune checkpoint inhibitorLocalized ablative immunotherapyNatural killer cellN-dihydrogalactochitosanSingle-cell RNA sequencing

Identifiers

PMID40436260
PMCPMC12207081

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.