Reply to: Pre-clinical data interpretation requires clinical context

Nature作者:Sean P. Pitroda2026年8月12日正文已收录本站
  • Matters Arising
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Nature volume 656, pages E5–E6 (2026) Cite this article

replying to: R. Muirhead et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10774-3 (2026).

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the accompanying Comment by Muirhead et al.1 regarding our recent study2. We understand why a study examining systemic effects of radiotherapy might raise concerns among clinicians and patients who have come to trust stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) as an effective therapy. Our goal is not to undermine confidence in SABR, which clearly benefits patients, but to identify opportunities for refinement that could improve outcomes, particularly in curative settings.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Sean P. Pitroda & Ralph R. Weichselbaum

  2. Ludwig Center for Cancer Research, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Sean P. Pitroda & Ralph R. Weichselbaum

Authors

  1. Sean P. Pitroda
  2. Ralph R. Weichselbaum

Contributions

S.P.P. and R.R.W. contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the initial paper draft. Both authors reviewed, revised and approved the final version of the paper. S.P.P. and R.R.W. jointly wrote and revised the Matters Arising rebuttal. Although the original paper included additional co-authors, the Matters Arising correspondence specifically concerns the broader clinical implications of our findings rather than the mechanistic aspects that occupied the contributions of the other authors. As S.P.P. and R.R.W. are best positioned to address questions pertaining to clinical translation and interpretation, the author list for this reply is necessarily reduced relative to that of the original article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ralph R. Weichselbaum.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

R.R.W. has stock and other ownership interests with Boost Therapeutics, Immvira, Reflexion Pharmaceuticals, Coordination Pharmaceuticals, Magi Therapeutics, Fuse Biotherapeutics and Oncosenescence. He has served in a consulting or advisory role for Aettis, Astrazeneca, Coordination Pharmaceuticals, Genus, Merck Serono, Nano proteagen, NKMax America and Shuttle Pharmaceuticals. He has received research grant funding from Varian and Regeneron, as well as NIH funding (R01CA262508 and U54 CA274291). He has received compensation including travel, accommodations or expense reimbursement from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelhei and Merck Serono. S.P.P. has received research grant funding from the LUNGevity Foundation, Cancer Research Foundation, Falk Medical Research Trust and American Lung Association. R.R.W. and S.P.P. are co-founders of PersonaDx and have multiple patents pending. S.P.P. and R.R.W. have filed a patent on amphiregulin in the radiation response.

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Pitroda, S.P., Weichselbaum, R.R. Reply to: Pre-clinical data interpretation requires clinical context. Nature 656, E5–E6 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10773-4

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