Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41441882›Full record

ArticleCancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII2025

A cytokine-based serum proteomic score is a prognostic biomarker for immunotherapy in head and neck cancer.

Md Saiful Islam Saif, Kartik Sehgal, Ze Zhang, Rondi A Butler, John K Wiencke, Annette M Molinaro, Julianna Miller, Hannah G Stolrow, Keisuke Shirai, Lucas A Salas and 4 more

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

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 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. Review
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

14 authors.

Md Saiful Islam Saif *Department of Biostatistics & Data Science, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Kartik Sehgal *Department of Medical Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
Ze ZhangDepartment of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
Rondi A ButlerDepartment of Epidemiology, and Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA.
John K WienckeDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Annette M MolinaroDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Julianna MillerDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
Hannah G StolrowDepartment of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
Keisuke ShiraiDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA.
Lucas A SalasDepartment of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
Devin C KoestlerDepartment of Biostatistics & Data Science, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Robert HaddadDepartment of Medical Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
Brock C ChristensenDepartment of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
Karl T KelseyDepartment of Epidemiology, and Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA. karl_kelsey@brown.edu.

Funding

Translational Engineering in Cancer (TEC)P30CA023108 · NCI · DARTMOUTH COLLEGE · PI Fred W Kolling IV · 1985 to 2026
$91.3M
Tissue CoreP50CA097257 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI Joseph F Costello · 2002 to 2026
$57.4M
Transgenic & Gene-Targeting Shared ResourceP30CA168524 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER · PI ROY A. JENSEN · 2012 to 2026
$40.1M
Pilot Project ProgramP30GM149408 · NIGMS · DARTMOUTH COLLEGE · PI MARGARET Rita KARAGAS · 2023 to 2026
$6.3M
DNA-based Immune Phenotyping in HNSCC for Biomarkers of Response to ImmunotherapyR01CA253976 · NCI · BROWN UNIVERSITY · PI CHRISTENSEN, BROCK C, KELSEY, KARL TIMOTHY · 2021 to 2025
$3.3M
National Cancer Institute Cancer Center P30CA023108National Cancer Institute Cancer Center P30CA168524NCI NIH HHS P30 CA023108NCI NIH HHS P30 CA168524NCI NIH HHS P50 CA097257NCI NIH HHS R01 CA253976NIGMS COBRE P30GM149408NIGMS NIH HHS P30 GM149408NIH HHS R01CA253976
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Despite advances with anti-programmed death (PD)-1-based immunotherapy for recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC), identifying who will benefit from these therapies remains challenging. In a prospective, multicenter study, serum levels of 92 cytokines were measured in pretreatment sera collected on 38 (discovery cohort) and 40 (validation cohort) patients with R/M HNSCC undergoing anti-PD-1-based immunotherapy. A prognostic cytokine score comprised of four cytokines (CXCL1, MCP-4, IL6, CD40) was developed using Cox elastic net modeling within the discovery cohort and showed concordance indices of 0.71 and 0.79 for overall survival (OS) in the discovery and validation cohorts, respectively. High cytokine scores were linked to worse OS (p < 0.01, adjusted HR = 2.07, 95% CI = 1.26-3.41). Further, the cytokine score outperformed established biomarkers including TMB and PD-L1 CPS. Our results suggest that serum cytokine proteomic score may serve as prognostic biomarker for anti-PD-1 therapy in R/M HNSCC.

Indexed as

Biomarkers, TumorCytokinesHead and Neck NeoplasmsImmunotherapyProteomicsSquamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and NeckAdultAgedFemaleHumansImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisProspective StudiesBiomarkers, TumorCytokinesImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsCytokinesHead andImmunotherapyNeck squamous cell carcinomaOlinkPrognosis

Identifiers

PMID41441882
PMCPMC12738435

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.