Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42117844›Full record

ArticleBiology2026

The Colorectal Cancer Glycocode: Tumour Sialylation Is Associated with an Immune-Excluded Phenotype and Distinct Therapeutic Signatures.

Abdulaziz Alfahed, Glowi Alasiri, Abdulrahman A Alahmari

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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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

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

3 authors.

Abdulaziz AlfahedDepartment of Medical Laboratory, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, AlKharj 11942, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0001-7961-343X
Glowi AlasiriDepartment of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 13317, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-8717-9458
Abdulrahman A AlahmariDepartment of Medical Laboratory, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, AlKharj 11942, Saudi Arabia.ORCID 0000-0002-7211-3739

Funding

Prince Sattam University, AlKharj, Saudi Arabia PSAU/ 2025/03/34184‎
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTumour glycosylation regulates immune modulation and progression, but whether the CRC sialylome-the complete repertoire of sialylated glycans-defines a biologically distinct subtype remains unclear. We investigated how the "sugar code" shapes CRC biology, immunity, and therapeutic response.

methodsTranscriptomic data from three CRC cohorts (TCGA, Sidra-LUMC, and CPTAC-2; n = 988) were batch-corrected and integrated. Single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) quantified sialyltransferase expression, sialic acid metabolism, EMT, MDR mechanisms, immune phenotypes, and Siglec-associated transcriptional signatures. GSEA, gene ontology enrichment analysis (GOEA), and drug ontology enrichment analysis (DOEA) characterised pathways and identified drug response-associated transcriptional signatures.

resultsHigh sialylome activity defined a genomically stable but clinically advanced CRC subset enriched for left-sided tumours, mucinous histology, MSI, and

conclusionsThe CRC sialylome is associated with tumour phenotypic variation, including immune-excluded states linked to Siglec-associated transcriptional signatures and patterns consistent with non-canonical drug resistance programmes. These findings position the "sugar code" as a central organising principle in CRC and identify glycan-directed therapies as a promising strategy for the targeting of this aggressive subtype.

Indexed as

colorectal cancerepithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)glycobiologyglyco-immune checkpointimmune exclusionmultidrug resistancesialylomeSiglec signallingtherapeutic vulnerabilityvesicular trafficking

Identifiers

PMID42117844
PMCPMC13162982

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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.