The “three-strata” framework for optimizing immunotherapy in gastrointestinal tract cancers (IMAGE)
Caption
This schematic illustrates stratification of gastrointestinal tract cancers based on their sensitivity to immunotherapy, thereby dictating distinct therapeutic paradigms that guide clinical investigation. In the graphic of Stratum 1, the solid strike-through of chemotherapy indicates a definitive shift away from this modality based on high-level evidence, whereas the dashed strike-through of surgery denotes a strategic de-escalation that remains under active investigation and is not yet the standard of care, reflecting the caution required in pursuing non-surgical, immunotherapy-centric strategies. The figure was generated using icons from Iconfont (https://icofont.com/) and assembled in Microsoft PowerPoint.
Abbreviations: CRC: colorectal cancer; ICD: immunogenic cell death
Credit
Professor Rui-Hua Xu from Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China Image source link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44466-026-00025-5
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License
CC BY-NC-ND