ArticleFrontiers in immunology2026
Soluble immune checkpoint proteins as predictive biomarkers for lymph node metastases in penile cancer.
Article in Frontiers in immunology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Penile cancer (PeCa) is a rare but aggressive disease where lymph node metastases (LNM) represent the most significant prognostic factor. Accurate identification of LNM remains a clinical priority, but traditional imaging and clinical parameters often fail to detect occult LNM. Soluble immune checkpoint proteins (sICs) have recently emerged as potential non-invasive biomarkers in various malignancies, although unexplored in PeCa. The primary aim of this study was to explore the value of a panel of 14 sICs for predicting LNM in PeCa. The secondary aim was to compare plasma sIC levels between PeCa patients and cancer-free controls. Methods: Using ProcartaPlex immunoassays, BTLA, IDO, LAG-3, HVEM, PD-1, PD-L1, PD-L2, TIM-3, CD80, CTLA-4, GITR, CD27, CD28, and CD137 were measured in plasma from 284 PeCa patients and 45 cancer-free controls. PeCa patients were divided into a training set (n=202) and a test set (n=82). A prediction model for LNM was created using logistic regression. Results: Overall accuracy of the prediction model reached 77.5% (95% CI: 70.9 - 83.3) for the training set, yielding 8.9% sensitivity and 99.3% specificity in predicting LNM. Upon validation using the test set, the accuracy decreased to 62.2% (95% CI: 50.8-72.7) with 17.9% sensitivity and 85.2% specificity. When comparing PeCa patients and cancer-free controls, four inhibitory sICs (IDO, TIM-3, CD80, and CTLA-4) were found at significantly higher levels in the PeCa group. Due to the rarity of the disease, the main limitation of the study is the small number of patients with LNM. Conclusion: Our study provides no evidence that sICs can predict LNM in PeCa, although four inhibitory sICs were significantly elevated in PeCa patients compared to cancer-free controls, suggesting systemic immunosuppression associated with tumor presence, consistent with findings in other malignancies. Studies with larger cohorts are warranted to clarify the prognostic significance of sICs in PeCa.
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.