Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41094064›Full record

ArticleCancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII2025

Integrating necroptosis and immune landscapes: a multi-omics-derived NecropImmScore stratifies prognosis and therapy in ovarian cancer.

Fangfang Xu, Shufeng Kang, Shaohua Xu

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Article in Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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3 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Fangfang Xu *Department of Gynecology, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Gynecologic Oncology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
Shufeng Kang *Department of Gynecology, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Gynecologic Oncology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
Shaohua XuDepartment of Gynecology, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Gynecologic Oncology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China. xushaohua@tongji.edu.cn.

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China 81772762Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai 21ZR1450900Shanghai Science and Technology Planning Project 21Y11907000
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOvarian cancer (OC) remains the deadliest gynecologic malignancy, largely due to its immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) and resistance to therapy. Necroptosis, a regulated lytic cell death pathway mediated by the RIPK1-RIPK3-MLKL axis, can trigger immunogenic cell death, but its specific role in shaping the OC immune landscape and its clinical translation potential are posorly understood.

methodsWe employed multi-omics analysis (transcriptomics, genomics, clinical data) from TCGA-OV (n = 380), ICGC OV-AU, and IMvigor210 cohorts, combined with rigorous in vitro functional validation using OC cell lines (SKOV3, HEY), macrophages (THP-1 derived), and T cells (Jurkat). Computational immunology approaches (ESTIMATE, CIBERSORT, ssGSEA) quantified immune infiltration. We identified MLKL-associated immune genes, performed survival analysis (Kaplan-Meier, Cox regression), and constructed a necroptosis-immune signature (NecropImmScore) using consensus clustering and PCA of 102 prognostic genes. Drug sensitivity was predicted via pRRophetic and CellMiner.

resultsMLKL emerged as a protective prognostic biomarker (p = 0.018), significantly correlated with enhanced immune infiltration (ImmuneScore, StromalScore, ESTIMATEScore; p < 2.22e-16), M1 macrophage polarization (p = 0.006), activated CD4 + T cells (p = 0.003), and elevated immune checkpoint expression (PD-L1, CTLA4, LAG3, TIGIT). In vitro, MLKL overexpression in OC cells promoted M1 polarization (p < 0.05), activated Jurkat T cells (upregulated CCR4/5/7/9, CD69, CD3D/E, GZMB; p < 0.05), and induced key chemokines (CXCL9/10/11/13) critical for immune cell recruitment. Integration of MLKL-related and immune-related DEGs (n = 632) revealed enrichment in T-cell activation, chemokine signaling, and antigen presentation pathways (FDR < 0.05). Consensus clustering based on 102 survival-associated genes defined three molecular subtypes (Clusters A-C) with divergent survival (p = 0.019), necroptosis activity, and immune infiltration (Cluster C: best prognosis, highest MLKL/ImmuneScore). The derived NecropImmScore robustly stratified patients: high-score correlated with superior overall survival (TCGA: p < 0.001; ICGC: p = 0.014), inflamed TME phenotype, elevated checkpoint expression, and improved response to anti-PD-L1 in IMvigor210. Critically, high NecropImmScore predicted higher BRCA1 mutation frequency (AUC = 0.802), synergy with BRCA1 status for prognosis, higher homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) score, sensitivity to cisplatin (p = 0.014), paclitaxel (p = 0.016), gemcitabine (p = 0.017), and provided superior prognostic stratification when combined with TMB and HRD score (p < 0.001).

conclusionThis study establishes MLKL as a master regulator of anti-tumor immunity in OC, driving chemokine-mediated immune cell recruitment and TME reprogramming. The novel NecropImmScore is a multifaceted biomarker that effectively predicts prognosis, immunotherapy response, BRCA1 deficiency, and chemosensitivity, offering significant potential for guiding precision therapeutic strategies in OC.

Indexed as

Biomarkers, TumorNecroptosisOvarian NeoplasmsCell Line, TumorFemaleGenomicsHumansMultiomicsPrognosisProtein KinasesTumor MicroenvironmentBiomarkers, TumorMLKL protein, humanProtein KinasesImmunotherapyMLKLNecroptosisOvarian cancerTumor microenvironment

Identifiers

PMID41094064
PMCPMC12528613

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.