ArticleFrontiers in oncology2025
Exploratory spatial transcriptomic profiling of peritumoral Th2 immune polarization in HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer.
Article in Frontiers in oncology, 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.
- Spatial immune programs associated with nodal status differ between lymphoid follicular regions and peritumoral tonsillar tissue in HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Spatial organization of HPV-associated immune programs across tissue compartments in oropharyngeal cancer.PloS one · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPC) associated with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), particularly HPV-16, generally shows favorable outcomes yet paradoxically exhibits a high incidence of early lymphatic metastasis. The immune mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain unclear. Methods: We conducted an exploratory spatial transcriptomic analysis using the GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples from six patients with palatine tonsil-derived OPC. Tumor tissue regions (TTRs) and lymphoid follicular regions (LFRs) were compared according to HPV status and nodal involvement. Results: In HPV-positive LFRs, pathways related to B-cell apoptosis appeared downregulated, suggesting prolonged B-cell survival and antigen presentation. Metastasis-negative HPV-positive cases displayed a Th2-skewed immune profile in LFRs, with increased naïve B cells, plasma cells, eosinophils, M2 macrophages, and activated mast cells. In contrast, metastasis-positive cases showed increased T cell activation in LFRs and reduced proliferation-related signaling in TTRs. Pathways involving estrogen signaling and bile acid metabolism were also associated with metastatic behavior. Conclusion: These exploratory findings suggest that peritumoral Th2-biased immunity within lymphoid structures may contribute to restraining lymphatic metastasis in HPV-positive OPC. Spatial transcriptomics may provide a high-resolution framework for investigating tumor-immune interactions and generating hypotheses for future mechanistic and clinical studies.
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.