Evidence mapPaperPMID 40746528Full record

ReviewFrontiers in immunology2025

Overcoming resistant cancerous tumors through combined photodynamic and immunotherapy (photoimmunotherapy).

Glory Kah, Heidi Abrahamse

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Frontiers in immunology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. 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

2 authors.

Glory KahLaser Research Centre, University of Johannesburg, Doornfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Heidi AbrahamseLaser Research Centre, University of Johannesburg, Doornfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cancer is a major health problem as it causes significant mortality globally. In the last decades, conventional and recent therapeutic approaches have been used in oncology for cancer treatment. Despite this, the complete eradication of cancer is challenging, as the existing therapeutic strategies for cancer are typically faced with limitations. This is linked to cancer resistance to treatment, which arises because of the versatile nature of cancerous cells. Novel anticancer therapeutic procedures based on immune system activation, such as photodynamic therapy (PDT) and immunotherapy (IOT), are promising in treating resistant tumors. PDT is a minimally invasive treatment that induces cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production for direct elimination of cancerous cells, but can also trigger anticancer effects by activating the immune system of the host. IOT also has significant anticancer efficacy and has emerged as an advanced anticancer treatment that mainly enhances and stimulates the innate immune system of the body to identify and destroy cancerous cells. IOT can also instigate a long-lasting anticancer response by harnessing the body's immune system. PDT and IOT, when used alone, cannot tackle the issue of cancer resistance. This review elucidates the principles, benefits, and setbacks of PDT and IOT, along with the unique attributes that render them suitable for cancer combination therapy. It underscores the advancement of cancer PDT when utilized in combination with IOT (photoimmunotherapy), while also encapsulating the preclinical evidence regarding the efficacy of photoimmunotherapy, and its combination with nanotechnology (Nano-photoimmunotherapy). The key findings indicate that photoimmunotherapy preclinical methods hold great promise in cancer treatment, as they can directly destroy cancer cells through PDT while also stimulating an increased anticancer immunity through co-delivery of IOT agents. Target-specific moieties can be used in nanotechnology-based anticancer photoimmunotherapy techniques to get past resistance and other therapeutic obstacles. However, clinical utilization of photoimmunotherapy procedures is greatly required to warrant the full efficacy.

Indexed as

Drug Resistance, NeoplasmImmunotherapyNeoplasmsPhotochemotherapyAnimalsCombined Modality TherapyHumansPhotosensitizing AgentsReactive Oxygen SpeciesPhotosensitizing AgentsReactive Oxygen Speciescancerimmunotherapynano-photoimmunotherapyphotodynamic therapyphotoimmunotherapyresistant

Identifiers

PMID40746528
PMCPMC12310484

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.