Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42760366›Full record

ReviewEuropean archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery2026

From signals to phenotype: multifactorial drivers of tumor-associated macrophage polarization in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma: a narrative review.

Ahmad Mohammad Hamdan, Amr Ali Mohamed Abdelgawwad El-Sehrawy, Aziza Davlatova, Navin Kumar Tailor, Ritesh Singh, Quvonch Tursunov, Gulnora Shakhmurova

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 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

7 authors.

Ahmad Mohammad HamdanFaculty of Dentistry, Hourani Center for Applied Scientific Research, Al- Ahliyya Amman University, Amman, Jordan. a.hamdan@ammanu.edu.jo.
Amr Ali Mohamed Abdelgawwad El-SehrawyDepartment of Internal Medicine, Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
Aziza DavlatovaDepartment of Pediatric Dentistry, Samarkand State Medical University, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Navin Kumar TailorUniversity Institute of Pharma Sciences, Chandigarh University, Mohali, Punjab, India.
Ritesh SinghCentre for Research Impact & Outcome, Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chitkara University, Rajpura, Punjab, 140401, India.
Quvonch TursunovDepartment of Basic Medical Sciences, Termez University of Economics and Service, Termez, Uzbekistan.
Gulnora ShakhmurovaDepartment of Biological Sciences, National Pedagogical University of Uzbekistan named after Nizami, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThis narrative review aimed to integrate oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)-specific evidence on the signals shaping the spatial and functional heterogeneity of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and to evaluate their implications for tumor progression, treatment response, biomarker development, and therapeutic targeting.

methodsPubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched from database inception to July 15, 2026, for mechanistic, spatial, preclinical, translational, and clinical studies concerning TAM recruitment, polarization, tumor-macrophage crosstalk, biomarkers, and TAM-directed interventions in OSCC. Broader head and neck squamous cell carcinoma evidence was considered only when directly relevant OSCC-specific evidence was limited.

resultsThe available evidence supports a continuum model of macrophage activation rather than a rigid M1/M2 classification. Hypoxia, lactate accumulation, cytokine and chemokine signaling, cancer-associated fibroblasts, extracellular-matrix remodeling, extracellular vesicles, and oral microbial cues converge to generate heterogeneous TAM states. These states can promote immune suppression, angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity, invasion, metastatic niche formation, and resistance to immunotherapy or radiochemotherapy. CD163- and CD206-enriched macrophage populations are frequently associated with adverse clinicopathologic features, whereas treatment-related changes in macrophage composition may provide exploratory response-associated or pharmacodynamic information. Preclinical studies further indicate that disrupting recruitment, survival, metabolic, microbial, or vesicle-mediated feedback circuits, or reprogramming suppressive TAMs, can reduce tumor-promoting activity.

conclusionTAMs should be evaluated as spatially organized, functionally diverse, and treatment-responsive populations. Clinically useful biomarkers and therapeutic approaches will require standardized, function-based characterization and prospective validation of rational combinations with immunotherapy and radiochemotherapy.

Indexed as

Cancer immunotherapyMacrophage polarizationMacrophage-targeted therapyOral cavity squamous cell carcinomaTumor-associated macrophagesTumor microenvironment

Identifiers

PMID42760366

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.