Insights gained from single-cell analysis of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment

X Ren, L Zhang, Y Zhang, Z Li… - Annual review of …, 2021 - annualreviews.org
Annual review of immunology, 2021annualreviews.org
Understanding tumor immune microenvironments is critical for identifying immune modifiers
of cancer progression and developing cancer immunotherapies. Recent applications of
single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) in dissecting tumor microenvironments have
brought important insights into the biology of tumor-infiltrating immune cells, including their
heterogeneity, dynamics, and potential roles in both disease progression and response to
immune checkpoint inhibitors and other immunotherapies. This review focuses on the …
Understanding tumor immune microenvironments is critical for identifying immune modifiers of cancer progression and developing cancer immunotherapies. Recent applications of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) in dissecting tumor microenvironments have brought important insights into the biology of tumor-infiltrating immune cells, including their heterogeneity, dynamics, and potential roles in both disease progression and response to immune checkpoint inhibitors and other immunotherapies. This review focuses on the advances in knowledge of tumor immune microenvironments acquired from scRNA-seq studies across multiple types of human tumors, with a particular emphasis on the study of phenotypic plasticity and lineage dynamics of immune cells in the tumor environment. We also discuss several imminent questions emerging from scRNA-seq observations and their potential solutions on the horizon.
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