{rfName}
Ch

Indexed in

License and use

Icono OpenAccess

Citations

19

Altmetrics

Grant support

This research was supported by grants from the ISCIII and ERDF (PI17/01558 and PI20/01107), by the CIBERONC (contracts CB16/12/00484, CB16/12/0328, CB16/12/00363, CB16/12/00364, CB16/12/00481, and CB16/12/00231) and Grupos Coordinados Estables from the Asociacion Espanola Contra el Cancer (AECC). AD-L was funded by a contract "Juan Rodes" from the ISCIII (JR17/00016). The funders had no involvement in the research process nor in the preparation and submission of the article.

Analysis of institutional authors

Sanegre, SabinaAuthor

Share

July 11, 2025
Publications
>
Article
Sí

Characterizing the Invasive Tumor Front of Aggressive Uterine Adenocarcinoma and Leiomyosarcoma

Publicated to:Frontiers In Cell And Developmental Biology. 9 670185- - 2021-06-03 9(), DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.670185

Authors: Sanegre, Sabina; Eritja, Nuria; de Andrea, Carlos; Diaz-Martin, Juan; Diaz-Lagares, Angel; Jacome, Maria Amalia; Salguero-Aranda, Carmen; Garcia Ros, David; Davidson, Ben; Lopez, Rafel; Melero, Ignacio; Navarro, Samuel; Ramon Y Cajal, Santiago; de Alava, Enrique; Matias-Guiu, Xavier; Noguera, Rosa

Affiliations

Autonomous Univ Barcelona, Vall dHebron Univ Hosp, Dept Pathol, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Canc CIBER CIBERONC, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hlth Res Inst Santiago IDIS, Translat Med Oncol Grp Oncomet, Roche Chus Joint Unit, Santiago De Compostela, Spain - Author
Oslo Univ Hosp, Norwegian Radium Hosp, Dept Pathol, Oslo, Norway - Author
Univ A Coruna, Fac Sci, CITIC, Dept Math,MODES Grp, La Coruna, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona, Bellvitge Univ Hosp, Univ Lleida, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona, Inst Recerca Biomed LLeida IRBLLEIDA, Inst Invest Biomed Bellvitge IDIBELL, Dept Pathol,Hosp Univ Arnau de Vilanova,Univ Llei, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Clin Hosp Santiago CHUS SERGAS, Canc Epigen, Translat Med Oncol Grp Oncomet, Hlth Res Inst Santiago IDIS, Santiago De Compostela, Spain - Author
Univ Clin Hosp Santiago CHUS SERGAS, Hlth Res Inst Santiago IDIS, Translat Med Oncol Grp Oncomet, Santiago De Compostela, Spain - Author
Univ Navarra, Univ Navarra Clin, Pamplona, Spain - Author
Univ Oslo, Inst Clin Med, Fac Med, Oslo, Norway - Author
Univ Seville, CIBERONC, Inst Biomed Sevilla, Virgen del Rocio Univ Hosp,CSIC, Seville, Spain - Author
Univ Valencia, INCLIVA, Sch Med, Dept Pathol, Valencia, Spain - Author
See more

Abstract

The invasive tumor front (the tumor-host interface) is vitally important in malignant cell progression and metastasis. Tumor cell interactions with resident and infiltrating host cells and with the surrounding extracellular matrix and secreted factors ultimately determine the fate of the tumor. Herein we focus on the invasive tumor front, making an in-depth characterization of reticular fiber scaffolding, infiltrating immune cells, gene expression, and epigenetic profiles of classified aggressive primary uterine adenocarcinomas (24 patients) and leiomyosarcomas (11 patients). Sections of formalin-fixed samples before and after microdissection were scanned and studied. Reticular fiber architecture and immune cell infiltration were analyzed by automatized algorithms in colocalized regions of interest. Despite morphometric resemblance between reticular fibers and high presence of macrophages, we found some variance in other immune cell populations and distinctive gene expression and cell adhesion-related methylation signatures. Although no evident overall differences in immune response were detected at the gene expression and methylation level, impaired antimicrobial humoral response might be involved in uterine leiomyosarcoma spread. Similarities found at the invasive tumor front of uterine adenocarcinomas and leiomyosarcomas could facilitate the use of common biomarkers and therapies. Furthermore, molecular and architectural characterization of the invasive front of uterine malignancies may provide additional prognostic information beyond established prognostic factors.

Keywords

CancerCarcinomaCollagenEpigenetic profileEpigenetic profilesExpressionExtracellular matrixExtracellular-matrixGelatinase-associated lipocalinGene expressionHyaluronaImmune cellsMetastasisMicroenvironmentPromotesReticular fibersTumor microenvironmentTumor-host interface

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Frontiers In Cell And Developmental Biology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position 6/39, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Developmental Biology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 1.68, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Aug 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-08-02, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 7
  • Europe PMC: 5

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-02:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 20.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 23 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 8.5.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 13 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Norway.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Sanegre Sans, Sabina) .