Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40640507›Full record

ArticleDiscover oncology2025

Relationship between the effectiveness of pembrolizumab monotherapy and ABO blood type in recurrent and metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Shogen Boku, Tatsuki Ikoma, Tomoyo Yasuda, Nobuhiro Shibata, Tomofumi Sakagami, Kensuke Suzuki, Takuo Fujisawa, Hiroshi Iwai, Masashi Kanai

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Discover oncology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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.

Shogen BokuDepartment of Clinical Oncology, Kansai Medical University Hospital, 2-3-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata, Osaka, 573-1191, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5015-0379
Tatsuki IkomaDepartment of Clinical Oncology, Kansai Medical University Hospital, 2-3-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata, Osaka, 573-1191, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3758-3425
Tomoyo YasudaDepartment of Clinical Oncology, Kansai Medical University Hospital, 2-3-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata, Osaka, 573-1191, Japan.
Nobuhiro ShibataDepartment of Clinical Oncology, Kansai Medical University Hospital, 2-3-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata, Osaka, 573-1191, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8647-5098
Tomofumi SakagamiDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Kansai Medical University, 2-3-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata, Osaka, 573-1191, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1952-7585
Kensuke SuzukiDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Kansai Medical University, 2-3-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata, Osaka, 573-1191, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1659-1549
Takuo FujisawaDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Kansai Medical University, 2-3-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata, Osaka, 573-1191, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-8412-9535
Hiroshi IwaiDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Kansai Medical University, 2-3-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata, Osaka, 573-1191, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2646-8173
Masashi KanaiDepartment of Clinical Oncology, Kansai Medical University Hospital, 2-3-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata, Osaka, 573-1191, Japan. kanai.mss@kmu.ac.jp.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6954-4474

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRecent studies have suggested a correlation between ABO blood type and the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors. However, the relationship between ABO blood type and response to pembrolizumab monotherapy as first-line treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) remains unclear.

methodWe retrospectively analyzed the patients who were treated with pembrolizumab as the first-line treatment for locally advanced, recurrent, or metastatic SCCHN between May 2020 and September 2024.

resultA total of 38 cases were analysed in this study. The ABO blood types of patients were as follows: 15 (39.5%) were type A, 9 (23.7%) were type B, 3 (7.9%) were type AB, and 11 (28.9%) were type O. Median Overall survival (OS) by blood type was 28.9 months for type A, 7.8 months for type B, 45.6 months for type O, and 21.4 months for type AB. The OS of B antigen-positive group (B group; B or AB) was significantly poorer than that of B antigen-negative group (non-B group; A or O) (7.8 months [95% CI, 3.0-16.4] vs. 28.9 months [95% CI, 10.7-45.6], p = 0.0022). Progression-free survival (PFS) was 2.6 (95% CI, 1.2-7.6) months vs. 7.2 (95% CI, 3.5-24.1) months (p = 0.06), overall response rate (ORR) was 25.0 vs. 46.2% (p = 0.29) and disease control rate (DCR) was 41.7 vs. 76.9% (p = 0.06), respectively.

conclusionIn this cohort, the presence of B antigen provides a significant disadvantage in terms of survival in patients using pembrolizumab for SCCHN.

Indexed as

ABO blood typeHead and neck cancerImmune checkpoint inhibitorPembrolizumab

Identifiers

PMID40640507
PMCPMC12246307

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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.