Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41728114›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology2026

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing for diagnosis of immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated pneumonitis: a retrospective comparative clinical performance study.

Ya-Lin Jiang, Shi-Zhen Dong, Yuan-Bo Xu, Jun-Li Fan, Yong-Mei Zhang, Shen-Shen Huang

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. 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

6 authors.

Ya-Lin JiangDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China.
Shi-Zhen DongDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China.
Yuan-Bo XuDepartment of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China.
Jun-Li FanDepartment of Thoracic Oncology Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China.
Yong-Mei ZhangDepartment of Thoracic Oncology Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China.
Shen-Shen HuangDepartment of Thoracic Oncology Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, and College of Clinical Medicine of Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance and clinical utility of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in distinguishing immune checkpoint inhibitor-related pneumonitis (CIP) from infectious pneumonia in cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy. Methods: A retrospective tertiary hospital cohort included 34 cancer patients (Feb 2022-Jan 2024) with prior ICI exposure, new/worsening respiratory symptoms, imaging infiltrates, and both mNGS and conventional microbiological testing (CMT). Final diagnoses were adjudicated by a multidisciplinary panel. We compared pathogen detection rates, sensitivity, specificity, and turnaround times (TAT) between mNGS and CMT. Results: In the infectious pneumonia group, mNGS detected pathogens in 17/18 cases (94%), whereas CMT detected only 6/18 (33%). In the CIP group, mNGS was negative in 14/16 cases (88%), compared with 11/16 negatives by CMT (69%). Using the adjudicated diagnosis as the reference, mNGS showed sensitivity 88%, and specificity 94%. In contrast, CMT's sensitivity was 69%, and specificity 33%. The median TAT for mNGS was 24 hours (IQR 22-31 h), versus 121.5 hours (IQR 80.5-156 h) for CMT (P < 0.001). Conclusion: mNGS outperforms CMT in both diagnostic accuracy and timeliness for distinguishing CIP from infectious pneumonia among immunotherapy recipients. Incorporation of mNGS into the diagnostic workflow for suspected CIP may improve etiological discrimination and enable timely, individualized treatment. Further large-scale prospective studies are required to confirm these findings.

Indexed as

High-Throughput Nucleotide SequencingImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsMetagenomicsPneumoniaAgedFemaleHumansImmunotherapyMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasmsRetrospective StudiesSensitivity and SpecificityImmune Checkpoint Inhibitorsconventional microbiological testingdiagnostic valueimmune checkpoint inhibitor-related pneumonitisinfectious pneumoniamNGS

Identifiers

PMID41728114
PMCPMC12920478

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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.