Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41524915›Full record

SynthesisJournal of neuro-oncology2026

Glioblastoma immunotherapy in the context of the aging immune system: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Jack M Shireman, Simon Ammanuel, Lingxin Cheng, Emily Distler, Yilong Tao, Christina Kendziorski, Mahua Dey

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of neuro-oncology, 2026. 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. 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.

Jack M ShiremanDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, UW Carbone Cancer Center, 600 Highland Ave, Madison, WI, 53792, USA.
Simon AmmanuelDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, UW Carbone Cancer Center, 600 Highland Ave, Madison, WI, 53792, USA.
Lingxin ChengDepartment of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
Emily DistlerDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, UW Carbone Cancer Center, 600 Highland Ave, Madison, WI, 53792, USA.
Yilong TaoDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, UW Carbone Cancer Center, 600 Highland Ave, Madison, WI, 53792, USA.
Christina KendziorskiDepartment of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
Mahua DeyDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, UW Carbone Cancer Center, 600 Highland Ave, Madison, WI, 53792, USA. dey@neurosurgery.wisc.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeImmunotherapy has yet to meaningfully translate to more complex solid tumors, such as Glioblastoma (GBM), which is a disease of old age with a median diagnosis age of 64. Despite this clear age bias, very little research has been conducted on the interplay between the aging immune system and its impact on the efficacy of immunotherapy.

methodsA literature search and meta-analysis was performed to quantify the role of the aged immune system during immunotherapy treatments in GBM. Registered clinical trials conducted from Jan 2000-April 2025 were analyzed and risk ratio of death at 1 year post treatment was calculated using patient level data for participants aged 65 and older and 64 and under.

resultsAcross 30 total studies and 556 patients’ data revealed a significantly higher risk of death (RR: 1.29: (1.09-1.53), p = 0.0040) at or before 1 year post immunotherapy treatment in the aged population compared to the young population. This risk was even larger in newly diagnosed GBM (RR: 2.24: (1.39-3.61), p = 0.0026). Finally, when examining the ages of patients enrolled in GBM immunotherapy clinical trials we found a significant bias towards enrolling younger patients. This bias was not present among lung cancer, also a disease of older adults, immunotherapy clinical trials.

conclusionThese data highlight that the aging of the immune system may play a role in the response to immunotherapy and trial designs with better tracking and reporting of this variable will allow for a more careful examination of this effect and overall successful immunotherapy development.

Indexed as

AgingBrain NeoplasmsGlioblastomaImmune SystemImmunotherapyHumansAgingClinical trialsGlioblastomaImmunotherapy

Identifiers

PMID41524915
PMCPMC12795865

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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 Socratic graph.