Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41811529›Full record

ArticleApoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death2026

The histone demethylase KDM4A promotes esophageal cancer progression by epigenetically activating LRG1-mediated TGF-β signaling.

Yueting Han, Huiya Wang, Yaoyang Guo, Hongdian Zhang, Xinyi Wen, Miao Zhang, Zhanhua Gao, Jie Hao, Minghan Qiu, Li Ren and 4 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death, 2026. 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.

Yueting Han *Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China.
Huiya Wang *Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China.
Yaoyang Guo *Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China.
Hongdian Zhang *Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China.
Xinyi Wen *Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China.
Miao ZhangTianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China.
Zhanhua GaoTianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China.
Jie HaoTianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China.
Minghan QiuTianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China.
Li RenTianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China. liren@tmu.edu.cn.
Dongzhi HuTianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China. tchdz@163.com.
Yi BaCancer Medical Center, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 41 Damucang Hutong, Xicheng District, Beijing, 100032, China. bayi@pumch.cn.
Bei SunTianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China. sunpei003@sina.com.
Haiyang ZhangTianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Union Medical Center, Tianjin Institute of Coloproctology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nankai University, Tianjin, 300172, China. zhanghaiyang@tmu.edu.cn.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains a lethal malignancy with a poor 5-year survival rate of approximately 20%, necessitating the identification of novel therapeutic targets. Here, we show that KDM4A is significantly upregulated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and its high expression correlates with poor prognosis. Functional assays demonstrated that KDM4A promotes ESCC cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, KDM4A demethylates H3K9me3 at the LRG1 promoter, thereby enhancing LRG1 transcription and activating the TGF-β pathway to drive epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer stemness. Knockdown of KDM4A or LRG1 suppresses these oncogenic phenotypes, while LRG1 overexpression rescues KDM4A deficiency-induced impairments. Clinically, KDM4A and LRG1 are co-overexpressed in ESCC tissues and associated with advanced tumor stage and shorter overall survival. These findings identify the KDM4A-LRG1-TGF-β axis as a critical driver of ESCC progression and a potential therapeutic target.

Indexed as

Epigenesis, GeneticEsophageal NeoplasmsEsophageal Squamous Cell CarcinomaGlycoproteinsJumonji Domain-Containing Histone DemethylasesTransforming Growth Factor betaAnimalsCell Line, TumorCell MovementCell ProliferationDisease ProgressionEpithelial-Mesenchymal TransitionFemaleGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansMaleGlycoproteinsJumonji Domain-Containing Histone DemethylasesKDM4A protein, humanTransforming Growth Factor betaEpigeneticsESCCKDM4ALRG1TGF-β signaling

Identifiers

PMID41811529

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.