Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39751902›Full record

ArticleCancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII2025

CMV IgG in the blood is not associated with hepatitis but correlates with poor outcomes in immunotherapy treated melanoma patients.

Sophia B Strobel, Devayani Machiraju, Melanie Wiecken, Jasmin Richter, Julian A F Klein, Annemarie Berger, Jessica C Hassel

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. The immunomodulatory role of human cytomegalovirus in cancer in the era of checkpoint immunotherapy.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025
    Review
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.

Sophia B StrobelDepartment of Dermatology and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Medical Faculty Heidelberg, NCT Heidelberg, a partnership between DKFZ and University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Devayani MachirajuDepartment of Dermatology and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Medical Faculty Heidelberg, NCT Heidelberg, a partnership between DKFZ and University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Melanie WieckenDepartment of Dermatology and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Medical Faculty Heidelberg, NCT Heidelberg, a partnership between DKFZ and University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Jasmin RichterDepartment of Dermatology and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Medical Faculty Heidelberg, NCT Heidelberg, a partnership between DKFZ and University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Julian A F KleinDepartment of Virology, Centre for Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Annemarie BergerUniversity Hospital, Institute for Medical Virology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Jessica C HasselDepartment of Dermatology and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Medical Faculty Heidelberg, NCT Heidelberg, a partnership between DKFZ and University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany. Jessica.Hassel@med.uni-heidelberg.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection or reactivation in immune-compromised individuals can lead to a wide range of severe complications including hepatitis. However, its relation with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) induced hepatitis (ICI-hepatitis) and tumor responses in advanced melanoma patients remains unclear. Hundred and ninety metastatic cutaneous melanoma patients (mCM) who received ICI treatment, with CMV IgG or IgM information available at baseline, were included in the study (Cohort 1). Clinical characteristics and immune cell count in the blood were retrieved from medical records. In addition, anti-CMV IgG and IgM were measured in pre and on-treatment serum samples from 49 advanced skin cancer patients using ELISA (Cohort 2). In the event of a positive anti-CMV IgM, further analysis with PCR was performed. Univariate and multivariate analysis was used to assess the relationship between CMV IgG or IgM and ICI-hepatitis tumor outcomes. Twenty-one patients (11%) developed hepatitis during ICI treatment (Cohort 1). ICI-hepatitis was significantly associated with disease control rate (DCR; p = 0.017) and longer progression-free survival (PFS; p = 0.008) in mCM patients. Detection of CMV IgG or IgM antibodies were not associated with ICI-hepatitis (p > 0.05). However, increased CMV IgG values at baseline correlated with disease progression (p = 0.047) and shorter PFS (p = 0.081). In addition, increased CMV IgG values were associated with reduced levels of monocytes (p = 0.005), eosinophils (p = 0.062), and neutrophils (p = 0.065) in the blood. In summary, anti-CMV IgG or IgM in the blood may not be associated with ICI-hepatitis, but high anti-CMV IgG at baseline indicates poor outcomes in ICI-treated mCM patients.

Indexed as

CytomegalovirusImmunoglobulin GMelanomaAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAntibodies, ViralCytomegalovirus InfectionsFemaleHepatitisHumansImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsImmunotherapyMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisAntibodies, ViralImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsImmunoglobulin GCMVHepatitisIgGIgMImmunotherapyMelanomaPeripheral Immune cellsSurvival

Identifiers

PMID39751902
PMCPMC11699187

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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 Socratic graph.