ArticleVirchows Archiv : an international journal of pathology2026
Expression of the immune checkpoint CD137/CD137L in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and association with histopathological parameters.
Article in Virchows Archiv : an international journal of pathology, 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
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
As immunotherapy (IT) with checkpoint inhibitors continues to make rapid progress in the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), response rates still necessitate substantial improvement. Current concepts to improve therapy response mainly consider identification of further immunological targets eligible for extension of IT. One auspicious immune checkpoint is CD137 and its ligand CD137L, but expression rates and relevance for progression of OSCC are still unknown. Tissue and peripheral blood from 159 OSCC patients and 55 healthy oral mucosa (HOM) controls was collected and subsequently analyzed for expression of CD137 and CD137L by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Furthermore, OSCC and HOM tissue samples from both groups were evaluated for CD137 protein expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Expression rates were analyzed and subsequently correlated with histomorphological characteristics. CD137 exhibited highly significant upregulation in OSCC tissue on mRNA and protein level, as evidenced by both RT-qPCR (p < 0.001) and IHC (p < 0.001) analysis. Regarding the CD137L expression in the examined tissue specimens, there was no significant difference detectable on mRNA level (p = 0.53). Comparative analysis of RT-qPCR blood data showed no statistically significance in expression rates of CD137 (p = 0.653) and CD137L (p = 0.351). Correlation analysis revealed no highly significant results with reference to the histopathological parameters. CD137 showed a highly significant upregulation in OSCC tissue compared to the HOM control group. Consequently, it may be a relevant checkpoint involved into formation and progression of OSCC. Further investigations are needed to evaluate, if CD137 represents a suitable target for a novel IT approach in OSCC treatment.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41731127What 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.