SynthesisFrontiers in oncology2026
Efficacy and safety of immunotherapy in pediatric malignant brain tumors: a systematic review and exploratory meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in oncology, 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
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Immunotherapy for pediatric brain tumors has expanded rapidly, yet its effects on survival and neurologic safety remain unclear. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to quantify efficacy and toxicity across immunotherapy modalities. Methods: Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, prospective pediatric immunotherapy studies were identified. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed using vaccine-based immunotherapy as the reference. Primary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and 12-month overall survival (OS12); grade ≥3 neurotoxicity was the primary safety outcome. Meta-regression and sensitivity analyses explored modality-specific effects. Results: Twenty studies were included. Median OS ranged from 3.6 months in heavily pretreated recurrent cohorts to 17.8 months in selected intratumoral oncolytic virus trials, while OS12 ranged from 8-13% to 75%. Compared with vaccines, non-vaccine immunotherapy did not improve OS (pooled HR 1.14, 95% CI 0.99-1.31; I² 43%) or OS12 (HR 1.13, 95% CI 0.95-1.34; I² 65%). Subgroup analyses showed comparable OS for CAR-T therapies (OS HR 1.09, 95% CI 0.89-1.34) and checkpoint/systemic therapies (OS HR 1.14, 95% CI 0.96-1.36), or oncolytic/viral therapies (OS HR 1.51, 95% CI 0.81-2.84). Severe neurotoxicity differed substantially by modality. No grade ≥3 neurotoxicity occurred in vaccine studies. In contrast, pooled non-vaccine therapies showed a markedly increased risk (OR 19.66, 95% CI 6.78-57.02; I² 60%). CAR-T therapies (OR 57.95, 95% CI 16.15-207.98) and oncolytic/viral approaches (OR 69.41, 95% CI 17.00-283.33) had the highest risk, whereas checkpoint/systemic therapy showed a lower, non-significant increase (OR 2.26, 95% CI 0.77-6.60). Conclusions: Across pediatric immunotherapy trials, survival outcomes were comparable to vaccine-based approaches, but neurotoxicity varied markedly by modality. Cellular and oncolytic therapies carry a substantial neurologic risk that must be balanced against uncertain survival benefit in future trial designs.
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.