SynthesisFrontiers in immunology2026
The efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab in the treatment of HER2-negative advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of emerging clinical data.
Synthesis in Frontiers in immunology, 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
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Pembrolizumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) targeting programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), has demonstrated significant clinical value in the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced gastric cancer (GC) and gastroesophageal junction cancer (GEJC). However, due to the relatively short duration of existing studies, inconsistent survival benefits among patients, and the lack of a standardized risk assessment system, its efficacy and safety still remain controversial. Materials and methods: By systematically querying the following English-language databases, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, Ovid, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL, along with the clinical trial registry ClinicalTrials.gov, studies reporting clinical efficacy and safety outcomes of pembrolizumab in patients with HER2-negative advanced GC or GEJC were identified. A meta analysis was subsequently conducted to pool objective response rate (ORR), duration of response (DoR), overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), 12/24-month overall survival rate (OS-12/24), 12/24-month progression-free survival rate (PFS-12/24), as well as treatment related adverse events (TRAEs) and immune related adverse events (irAEs). Comprehensive subgroup analyses were further performed based on PD-L1 combined positive score (CPS), age, region, chemo backbone, and median follow-up. Results: Nine studies encompassing 3406 patients with HER2-negative advanced GC or GEJC were included. In randomized controlled trials (RCTs), pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy significantly improved ORR (OR 1.57, 95%CI:1.35-1.81) and OS (HR 0.82, 95%CI:0.75-0.89) compared with chemotherapy alone. Pooled median PFS from RCTs in the pembrolizumab arm was 6.77 months (95%CI:6.19-7.36) and from single-arm studies was 6.53 months (95%CI:4.59-9.31). Combination chemotherapy regimens showed numerically longer median OS (RCT combination subgroup median OS (mOS) 12.74 months Conclusion: Pembrolizumab in conjunction with chemotherapy confers substantial clinical advantage in the management of HER2-negative advanced GC or GEJC, as evidenced by improvements in ORR, OS, and PFS. In contrast, the therapeutic efficacy of pembrolizumab monotherapy appears constrained. Vigilant surveillance for heightened hematologic and gastrointestinal toxicities is warranted within routine clinical practice. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD420261298020.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What 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.