Leaderboards/Tumor Microenvironment

Tumor Microenvironment

Last updated May 19, 2026

Rising Stars

New and hot

Rising Stars Researchers

1
Kevin M. Tharp
University of California, San Francisco
558 cit.
2
Daan J. Kloosterman
The Netherlands Cancer Institute
525 cit.
3
Kim A. Reiss
University of Pennsylvania
516 cit.
4
Michelli F. Oliveira
10X Genomics (United States)
471 cit.
5
Yunhe Liu
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
453 cit.
6
Ronal M. Peralta
University of Pittsburgh
399 cit.
7
Ying Wang
Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University
394 cit.
8
Siva Karthik Varanasi
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
369 cit.
9
Yilv Yan
Tongji University
357 cit.
10
Yinghua Zhu
Sun Yat-sen University
336 cit.

Rising Stars Papers

1
Tumor-associated macrophages restrict CD8+ T cell function through collagen deposition and metabolic reprogramming of the breast cancer microenvironment
Nature Cancer|2024
222 cit.
2
Macrophage-mediated myelin recycling fuels brain cancer malignancy
Cell|2024
174 cit.
3
CAR-macrophage therapy for HER2-overexpressing advanced solid tumors: a phase 1 trial
Nature Medicine|2025
171 cit.
4
High-definition spatial transcriptomic profiling of immune cell populations in colorectal cancer
Nature Genetics|2025
156 cit.
5
Conserved spatial subtypes and cellular neighborhoods of cancer-associated fibroblasts revealed by single-cell spatial multi-omics
Cancer Cell|2025
150 cit.
6
Dysfunction of exhausted T cells is enforced by MCT11-mediated lactate metabolism
Nature Immunology|2024
132 cit.
7
Tumor Cell-Targeting and Tumor Microenvironment–Responsive Nanoplatforms for the Multimodal Imaging-Guided Photodynamic/Photothermal/Chemodynamic Treatment of Cervical Cancer
International Journal of Nanomedicine|2024
393 cit.
8
Bile acid synthesis impedes tumor-specific T cell responses during liver cancer
Science|2025
122 cit.
9
Multi-omic profiling highlights factors associated with resistance to immuno-chemotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer
Nature Genetics|2024
118 cit.
10
Cancer cell-derived arginine fuels polyamine biosynthesis in tumor-associated macrophages to promote immune evasion
Cancer Cell|2025
111 cit.

Rising Stars Reagents

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Emerging Leaders

Gaining momentum

Emerging Leaders Researchers

1
Jian Zhang
Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center
810 cit.
2
Boyi Gan
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
713 cit.
3
Linghua Wang
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
630 cit.
4
Mikäel J. Pittet
University of Geneva
583 cit.
5
Qiang Gao
Zhongshan Hospital
557 cit.
6
William C. Cho
Hospital Authority
433 cit.
7
Li Tang
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
381 cit.
8
Bernd Bodenmiller
University of Zurich
369 cit.
9
Yang Pu
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College
306 cit.
10
Jing Xue
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
282 cit.

Emerging Leaders Papers

1
NF-κB in biology and targeted therapy: new insights and translational implications
Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy|2024
1.6k cit.
2
The roles of ferroptosis in cancer: Tumor suppression, tumor microenvironment, and therapeutic interventions
Cancer Cell|2024
475 cit.
3
<i>CXCL9:SPP1</i> macrophage polarity identifies a network of cellular programs that control human cancers
Science|2023
583 cit.
4
Precision treatment in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma
Cancer Cell|2024
371 cit.
5
Pan-cancer T cell atlas links a cellular stress response state to immunotherapy resistance
Nature Medicine|2023
467 cit.
6
High resolution mapping of the tumor microenvironment using integrated single-cell, spatial and in situ analysis
Nature Communications|2023
689 cit.
7
Interplay of oxidative stress, cellular communication and signaling pathways in cancer
Cell Communication and Signaling|2024
346 cit.
8
IL-10-expressing CAR T cells resist dysfunction and mediate durable clearance of solid tumors and metastases
Nature Biotechnology|2024
254 cit.
9
Cancer-associated fibroblast phenotypes are associated with patient outcome in non-small cell lung cancer
Cancer Cell|2024
246 cit.
10
KAT8-catalyzed lactylation promotes eEF1A2-mediated protein synthesis and colorectal carcinogenesis
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|2024
204 cit.

Emerging Leaders Reagents

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All-Time Leaders

The canon

All-Time Leaders Researchers

1
Thomas F. Gajewski
University of Chicago
18.3k cit.
2
X. Shirley Liu
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
16.9k cit.
3
Jérôme Galon
Délégation Paris 5
14k cit.
4
Aurélien de Reyniès
La Ligue Contre le Cancer
11.9k cit.
5
Terrill K. McClanahan
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA (United States)
11.5k cit.
6
Robert Dreicer
University of Virginia
11.1k cit.
7
Steven Μ. Albelda
University of Pennsylvania
9.9k cit.
8
Erika L. Pearce
Washington University in St. Louis
9.5k cit.
9
Levi A. Garraway
Broad Institute
8.9k cit.
10
Mario L. Suvà
Center for Cancer Research
8.4k cit.

All-Time Leaders Papers

1
Hallmarks of Cancer: New Dimensions
Cancer Discovery|2022
8.9k cit.
2
TIMER2.0 for analysis of tumor-infiltrating immune cells
Nucleic Acids Research|2020
5.6k cit.
3
Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Intratumoral Immune Cells Reveal the Immune Landscape in Human Cancer
Immunity|2013
4.7k cit.
4
Estimating the population abundance of tissue-infiltrating immune and stromal cell populations using gene expression
Genome biology|2016
4k cit.
5
IFN-γ–related mRNA profile predicts clinical response to PD-1 blockade
Journal of Clinical Investigation|2017
3.8k cit.
6
Commensal <i>Bifidobacterium</i> promotes antitumor immunity and facilitates anti–PD-L1 efficacy
Science|2015
3.7k cit.
7
Atezolizumab in patients with locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have progressed following treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy: a single-arm, multicentre, phase 2 trial
The Lancet|2016
3.7k cit.
8
Polarization of Tumor-Associated Neutrophil Phenotype by TGF-β: “N1” versus “N2” TAN
Cancer Cell|2009
3.3k cit.
9
Metabolic Competition in the Tumor Microenvironment Is a Driver of Cancer Progression
Cell|2015
3.2k cit.
10
Genomic correlates of response to CTLA-4 blockade in metastatic melanoma
Science|2015
3k cit.

All-Time Leaders Reagents

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Indexing Tumor Microenvironment Reagents

Citation data for reagents in this field is currently compiling.