Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42745284›Full record

ReviewJournal of translational medicine2026

Secreted protein circuits in the gastrointestinal tumour microenvironment: determinants of immunotherapy response and resistance.

Kexun Li, Zilong Qian, Jie Mao, Yongtao Han, Xuefeng Leng

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of translational medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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

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

5 authors.

Kexun Li *Department of Thoracic Surgery, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (Sichuan Cancer Hospital), Chengdu, China. likexun@yeah.net.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7953-1805
Zilong Qian *Department of Thoracic Surgery I, Key Laboratory of Lung Cancer of Yunnan Province, Yunnan Cancer Hospital, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Cancer Hospital), Kunming, China.
Jie Mao *Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nanchong Central Hospital, Nanchong, China.
Yongtao HanDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (Sichuan Cancer Hospital), Chengdu, China.
Xuefeng LengDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (Sichuan Cancer Hospital), Chengdu, China. doc.leng@uestc.edu.cn.

Funding

International Cooperation Projects of the Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province 2026YFHZ0053
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Immune checkpoint blockade has transformed treatment in selected gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, yet primary resistance, incomplete responses and acquired resistance remain common. This heterogeneity is not explained by tumour-cell genomics alone; extracellular signalling programmes within the tumour microenvironment can determine immune recruitment, access and adaptation to therapy. The tumour secretome-including cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, complement components, matricellular proteins, soluble checkpoint molecules and extracellular-vesicle-associated cargo-regulates immune-cell recruitment, exclusion, suppression, tertiary lymphoid structure formation and exhaustion across anatomical and molecular contexts. Across gastric and esophageal cancers, colorectal cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma and biliary tract cancers, recurrent suppressive circuits include TGF-β, VEGF, CXCL12-CXCR4, CXCL8/IL-8-CXCR1/2, CCL2-CCR2, CSF1-CSF1R, IL-6-family cytokines, SPP1/osteopontin, periostin, galectins, DKK1, MIF, complement and soluble or vesicular PD-L1. Conversely, CXCL9/10/11-CXCR3 signalling and CXCL13-associated tertiary lymphoid structures characterise immune-permissive states that can support checkpoint responsiveness. We organise these circuits into four overlapping functional modules-myeloid-enriched, fibroblast-driven exclusion, angiogenic-immunosuppressive and immune-permissive-and apply a four-level evidence hierarchy that separates clinical validation from mechanistic inference. Clinically useful secretome biomarkers will therefore need to integrate cellular source, spatial localisation, receptor context, temporal dynamics and linkage to actionable immune-state transitions.

Indexed as

Drug Resistance, NeoplasmGastrointestinal NeoplasmsImmunotherapyTumor MicroenvironmentAnimalsHumansGastrointestinal cancerImmune checkpoint blockadeSecretomeTumour microenvironment

Identifiers

PMID42745284
PMCPMC13576350

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.