Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41884334›Full record

ArticleResearch (Washington, D.C.)2026

A Single-Cell Atlas of Pan-Cancer Liver Metastasis Reveals Dynamic Cellular Programs Driving Metastatic Progression and Immune Modulation.

Xinyu Tong, Haoyu Chao, Chenlu Zhang, Zhuojin Li, Quan Han, Lishan Wang, Nuo Wu, Ruidong Chen, Jian Gao, Shu Zhang and 5 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Research (Washington, D.C.), 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

15 authors.

Xinyu TongDepartment of Gastroenterology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
Haoyu ChaoState Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Chenlu ZhangState Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Zhuojin LiState Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Quan HanState Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Lishan WangDepartment of Gastroenterology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
Nuo WuState Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Ruidong ChenState Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Jian GaoState Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Shu ZhangDepartment of Gastroenterology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
Lei XuDepartment of Gastroenterology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1374-2211
Ming ChenDepartment of Bioinformatics, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Hui ZhaoDepartment of Laboratory Diagnostics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
Lei WangDepartment of Gastroenterology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
Dijun ChenDepartment of Gastroenterology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7456-2511

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Liver metastasis remains a major challenge in cancer treatment, yet its cellular and molecular landscape remains poorly defined at the pan-cancer level. Here, we construct a single-cell transcriptomic atlas of liver metastases across multiple cancer types by analyzing 100 single-cell RNA sequencing samples, profiling over 460,000 cells, and identifying 121 distinct cellular subtypes. We define 4 representative cellular programs (CPs) associated with liver metastasis, revealing how cellular composition and intercellular interactions within the tumor microenvironment drive metastatic progression and immune modulation. These CPs recapitulate a dynamic transition from immunoactive states, marked by natural-killer-cell-mediated immune surveillance and macrophage-driven angiogenesis, to immunosuppressive environments dominated by regulatory T cell infiltration and immune exclusion. The shift is marked by progressive alterations in immune infiltration, stromal remodeling, and tumor-intrinsic adaptations, elucidating key mechanisms of immune evasion and metastatic niche formation. Our study provides a high-resolution framework for understanding the heterogeneity and evolution of liver metastasis and highlights the potential of CP-based stratification to inform therapeutic strategies targeting the metastatic tumor microenvironment.

Identifiers

PMID41884334
PMCPMC13010057

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.