Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40675986›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Integrative spatial omics reveals distinct tumor-promoting multicellular niches and immunosuppressive mechanisms in Black American and White American patients with TNBC.

Qian Zhu, Akhila Balasubramanian, Jaya Ruth Asirvatham, Megha Chatterjee, Badrajee Piyarathna, Jaspreet Kaur, Nada Mohamed, Ling Wu, Stacy Wang, Niloufar Pourfarrokh and 21 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing 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

18 citing papers in PubMed.

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  18. Terminally exhausted CD8Frontiers in immunology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

31 authors.

Qian Zhu *Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. qian.zhu@bcm.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7062-8221
Akhila Balasubramanian *Department of Molecular Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Jaya Ruth Asirvatham *Department of Pathology, Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, Texas, USA.
Megha ChatterjeeDepartment of Molecular Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-8987-7250
Badrajee PiyarathnaDepartment of Molecular Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Jaspreet KaurDepartment of Biology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Nada MohamedDepartment of Pathology, Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, Texas, USA.
Ling WuLester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5786-4315
Stacy WangLester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Niloufar PourfarrokhDepartment of Pathology, Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, Texas, USA.
Paula Danika BinsolDepartment of Pathology, Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, Texas, USA.
Mahak BhargavaDepartment of Nutrition Sciences, School of Health Professions, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9495-9647
Uttam RasailyDan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Yitian XuImmune Monitoring Core, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, Texas, USA.
Junjun ZhengImmune Monitoring Core, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, Texas, USA.
Deborah JebakumarDepartment of Pathology, Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, Texas, USA.
Arundhati RaoDepartment of Pathology, Baylor Scott and White Health, Temple, Texas, USA.
Carolina GutierrezLester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2941-3461
Angela R OmilianDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Carl MorrisonDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Gokul M DasDepartment of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2937-8093
Christine AmbrosoneDepartment of Cancer Prevention and Control, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1717-9943
Erin H SeeleyDepartment of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Shu-Hsia ChenImmune Monitoring Core, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, Texas, USA.
Yi LiLester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9976-518X
Eric ChangLester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1375-5088
Xiaoxian LiDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0995-1721
Elizabeth BakerDivision of Molecular and Translational Biomedicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Ritu AnejaDepartment of Nutrition Sciences, School of Health Professions, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Xiang H-F ZhangLester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5674-8670
Arun SreekumarDan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. arun.sreekumar@bcm.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8956-3675

Funding

XRAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHYP30CA013148 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI Omer Jamy · 1985 to 2026
$165.9M
Two-Spirit Films in Indigenous Cancer HealthP30CA016056 · NCI · ROSWELL PARK CANCER INSTITUTE CORP · PI CANDACE S JOHNSON · 1985 to 2026
$116.6M
Tumor BiologyP30CA125123 · NCI · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI Suzanne AW Fuqua · 2007 to 2026
$73.9M
Tissue Analysis & Molecular Imaging CoreP30DK056338 · NIDDK · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI Hashem B El-Serag · 2001 to 2026
$28.3M
Translational Research in Breast Cancer (SPORE)P50CA186784 · NCI · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI MATTHEW J ELLIS · 2014 to 2026
$24.5M
Tumor Immune Contexture and Breast Cancer Disparities: A Multi-Disciplinary Study in Women of African and European AncestryR01CA247281 · NCI · ROSWELL PARK CANCER INSTITUTE CORP · PI ABRAMS, SCOTT I., AMBROSONE, CHRISTINE B. · 2020 to 2024
$5.2M
Rewired Metabolism Regulates Vessel Normalization and ImmunosuppressionR01CA227904 · NCI · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI SREEKUMAR, ARUN, ZHANG, XIANG · 2019 to 2023
$2.3M
Racial and social contextual factors in relation to epigenome and bladder cancer outcome.P20CA284971 · NCI · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI Shixia Huang · 2023 to 2026
$1.4M
BD Biosciences Special Order LSRIIS10RR024574 · NCRR · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI LUMPKIN, ELLEN A · 2009 to 2009
$430k
Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas) RR220035NCI NIH HHS P20 CA284971NCI NIH HHS P30 CA013148NCI NIH HHS P30 CA016056NCI NIH HHS P30 CA125123NCI NIH HHS P50 CA186784NCI NIH HHS R01 CA227904NCI NIH HHS R01 CA247281NCRR NIH HHS S10 RR024574NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK056338U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | Center for Scientific Review (NIH Center for Scientific Review) P20 CA284971-01U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | Center for Scientific Review (NIH Center for Scientific Review) RR024574U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Cancer Institute (NCI) RO1CA227904
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Racial disparities in the clinical outcomes of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) have been well-documented, but the underlying biological mechanisms remain poorly understood. To investigate these disparities, we employed a multi-omic approach integrating imaging mass cytometry and spatial transcriptomics to characterize the tumor microenvironment (TME) in self-identified Black American (BA) and White American (WA) TNBC patients. Our analysis revealed that the TME in BA patients is marked by a network of endothelial cells, macrophages, and mesenchymal-like cells, which correlates with reduced patient survival. In contrast, the WA TNBC microenvironment is enriched in T-cells and neutrophils, indicative of T-cell exhaustion and suppressed immune responses. Ligand-receptor and pathway analyses further demonstrated that BA TNBC tumors exhibit a relatively "immune-cold" profile, while WA TNBC tumors display features of an "inflamed" TME, suggesting the evolution of a unique immunosuppressive mechanism. These findings provide insight into racially distinct tumor-promoting and immunosuppressive microenvironments, which may contribute to the observed differences in clinical outcomes among BA and WA TNBC patients.

Indexed as

Black or African AmericanTriple Negative Breast NeoplasmsTumor MicroenvironmentWhiteFemaleHumansMacrophagesT-LymphocytesTranscriptome

Identifiers

PMID40675986
PMCPMC12271405

What Socratic 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 Socratic graph.