Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42430190›Full record

ArticleOncoimmunology2026

Single-cell sequencing profiling of intratumoral heterogeneity and immunosuppressive microenvironment in primary thyroid cancer and lymph node metastases.

Shuhang Xu, Yaorong Su, Senmin Zhang, Dongye Huang, Song Wu, Cailu Song, Wenhuan Zhong, Lan Xie, Wenkuan Chen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Oncoimmunology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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

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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

9 authors.

Shuhang XuDepartment of Ultrasound, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Yaorong SuDepartment of General surgery, Jiangmen Central Hospital, Jiangmen, China.
Senmin ZhangState Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
Dongye HuangState Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
Song WuState Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
Cailu SongState Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
Wenhuan ZhongState Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
Lan XieState Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
Wenkuan ChenState Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.ORCID 0000-0003-3487-2168

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Metastasis is a major determinant of treatment failure and mortality in thyroid cancer, yet the interplay between malignant evolution and the immune microenvironment remains poorly characterized. Immunotherapy offers promise, but its efficacy requires a deeper understanding of tumor-associated immune infiltration and checkpoint regulation. In this study, we constructed a high-resolution transcriptomic atlas of the thyroid cancer ecosystem by analyzing 55,005 single cells from paired primary tumors and lymph node metastases. By integrating chromosomal copy number variation (CNV) inference with consensus nonnegative matrix factorization (cNMF), we deciphered the intrinsic heterogeneity of malignant epithelial cells, revealing distinct transcriptional programs and developmental trajectories driving the metastatic cascade. The metastatic niche exhibited significant reprogramming of the immunosuppressive landscape, characterized by the enrichment of FOXP3⁺ regulatory T (Treg) cells, LAMP3⁺ dendritic cells (DCs), and CCL18⁺ M2-like macrophages. Notably, while canonical checkpoints PD-1 and PD-L1/2 showed minimal expression, ligand-receptor interaction analysis identified the LAG3-LGALS3 axes as dominant immune evasion pathways mediating the crosstalk between CD8⁺ T cells and the tumor stroma. In conclusion, this study comprehensively maps the coevolution of malignant thyrocyte plasticity and the immunosuppressive metastatic niche. By uncovering the specific role of LAMP3⁺ DCs and identifying LAG3/TIGIT as critical alternative checkpoints, our findings challenge the utility of conventional PD-1 blockade in this context and provide a robust molecular rationale for developing next-generation immunotherapeutic strategies tailored to thyroid cancer. Although limited by a modest sample size, these findings provide a foundation for further investigation of the metastatic immune landscape in thyroid cancer.

Indexed as

Single-Cell AnalysisThyroid NeoplasmsTumor MicroenvironmentDendritic CellsDNA Copy Number VariationsGene Expression ProfilingGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansLymphatic MetastasisSingle-Cell Gene Expression AnalysisT-Lymphocytes, Regulatoryimmunosuppressive nichelymph node metastasismalignant cell heterogeneitysingle-cell RNA sequencingThyroid cancertumor microenvironment

Identifiers

PMID42430190
PMCPMC13360498

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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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.