Tumor microenvironment remodeling after neoadjuvant immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer revealed by single-cell RNA sequencing

Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, but most patients are refractory to immunotherapy or acquire resistance, with the underlying mechanisms remaining to be explored.

We characterized the transcriptomes of ~92,000 single cells from 3 pre-treatment and 12 post-treatment patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade combined with chemotherapy. The 12 post-treatment samples were categorized into two groups based on pathologic response: major pathologic response (MPR; n = 4) and non-MPR (NMPR; n = 8).