Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42062553›Full record

ArticleNature methods2026

Resolving sensitivity, specificity and signal contamination in Xenium spatial transcriptomics.

Mariia Bilous, Daria Buszta, Jonathan Bac, Senbai Kang, Yixing Dong, Stephanie Tissot, Sylvie Andre, Marina Alexandre Gaveta, Christel Voize, Solange Peters and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature methods, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing 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

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Insights into the maternal-fetal interface from spatial multi-omics.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026
    Review
  10. Denoising image-based spatial transcriptomics data with DenoIST.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    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

12 authors.

Mariia Bilous *Biomedical Data Science Center, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Daria Buszta *Biomedical Data Science Center, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-9874-9791
Jonathan Bac *Biomedical Data Science Center, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Senbai Kang *Biomedical Data Science Center, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6696-3983
Yixing DongBiomedical Data Science Center, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Stephanie TissotDepartment of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Swiss Cancer Center Leman, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Sylvie AndreDepartment of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Swiss Cancer Center Leman, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Marina Alexandre GavetaDepartment of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Swiss Cancer Center Leman, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Christel VoizeDepartment of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Swiss Cancer Center Leman, Lausanne, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-9349-1465
Solange PetersDepartment of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Swiss Cancer Center Leman, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Krisztian HomicskoDepartment of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Swiss Cancer Center Leman, Lausanne, Switzerland. Krisztian.Homicsko@chuv.ch.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0912-6198
Raphael GottardoBiomedical Data Science Center, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Raphael.Gottardo@chuv.ch.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3867-0232

Funding

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (Swiss National Science Foundation) 10004717
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Spatial transcriptomics enables high-resolution gene expression mapping in intact tissues. Xenium is widely adopted for its reliability, accessibility and data quality, yet the properties and limitations of Xenium-derived data remain poorly characterized. Here we present one of the most comprehensive Xenium datasets so far, encompassing over 40 breast and lung tumor sections profiled using diverse gene panels. Leveraging this resource, we systematically dissect technical noise-including transcript spillover-along with assay specificity, panel performance and segmentation strategies. We demonstrate that single-nucleus RNA sequencing enables precise quantification of transcript contamination. Building on these insights, we introduce SPLIT (Spatial Purification of Layered Intracellular Transcripts), a method that improves signal purity by resolving mixed transcriptomic signals. SPLIT enhances background correction and cell-type resolution and enables the revelation of T-cell exhaustion signatures associated with malignant cell colocalization-signals that would otherwise remain obscured. Together, our findings provide a critical benchmark for Xenium performance and introduce a scalable strategy for signal refinement.

Indexed as

Lung NeoplasmsTranscriptomeBreast NeoplasmsHumansSensitivity and SpecificitySequence Analysis, RNASingle-Cell Gene Expression AnalysisSpatial Transcriptomics

Identifiers

PMID42062553
PMCPMC13259927

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.