{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T03:14:54Z","timestamp":1788146094147,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":12,"publisher":"Walter de Gruyter GmbH","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]],"date-time":"2026-07-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785110400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine","award":["040106999010YZDS"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["040106999010YZDS"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The tumor invasive front is a critical interface for tumor-host interactions that impacts patient prognosis. Although the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system and single-parameter assessments such as tumor budding, T-cell density, tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS), and stromal features provide important prognostic information, they capture only partial aspects of this spatially organized tumor-host interface. Inspired by the traditional Chinese medicine concept of \u201cHuchang\u201d, used here as a metaphorical descriptor of host-protective organization at the tumor boundary, and informed by recent advances in spatial immunology, we propose the Huchang-Barrier (HB) framework. HB conceptualizes the invasive front as a dynamic tumor-host interface whose biological state is determined by the balance between tumor invasive burden and host physical\/tissue and spatial immune barriers. Unlike fixed single-marker scores or tumor-type-specific microenvironmental indices, HB integrates three conserved functional elements while allowing cancer-adapted readouts, thereby providing a modular framework for evaluating the invasion-barrier balance at the invasive front. To improve operability, we outline a two-tier assessment strategy and provide a minimal executable HB-Standard example in resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The HB framework is proposed as a hypothesis-generating spatial pathology model that requires retrospective calibration, independent validation, and prospective testing before clinical implementation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1515\/mr-2026-0037","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,24]],"date-time":"2026-07-24T22:32:32Z","timestamp":1784932352000},"page":"354-358","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Huchang-Barrier framework: an integrative perspective on the spatial features of the tumor invasive front"],"prefix":"10.1515","volume":"6","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-6717-7245","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dan","family":"Xie","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Dongfang Hospital , Beijing University of Chinese Medicine , Beijing , China"},{"name":"Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine Oncology , Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University , Urumqi , China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zexing","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dongfang Hospital , Beijing University of Chinese Medicine , Beijing , China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinghua","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dongfang Hospital , Beijing University of Chinese Medicine , Beijing , China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kaiwen","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dongfang Hospital , Beijing University of Chinese Medicine , Beijing , China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"374","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026083102570605197_j_mr-2026-0037_ref_001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Galon, J, Costes, A, Sanchez-Cabo, F, Kirilovsky, A, Mlecnik, B, Lagorce-Pag\u00e8s, C, et al.. 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