Tumor immunology in the age of single-cell genomics.

🤖 Plain-English Summary

Immunotherapies that were developed based on our understandings of tumor immunology have revolutionized cancer treatment. Future studies on tumor immunology in the age of single-cell genomics, therefore, hold the promise to develop more effective and precise immunotherapies for human cancers.

🔑 Key Findings

• However, the success of immunotherapy is eclipsed by several grand challenges, including low response rate, intrinsic/acquired resistance and adverse effects.
• While a deeper understanding of the interaction between tumor and our immune system, especially the tumor immune niche, is essential to overcome those challenges, we are limited by the fact that most of our knowledge about tumor immunology is based on studies analyzing bulk populations of cells, which are often unable to fully characterize the various cell types and states engaged in immune cell functions.
• The advent of cutting single-cell genomic technologies empowers us to dissect the tumor immune niche in a genome-wide and spatially resolved manner in single cells, trace their clonal histories, and unveil their regulatory circuits.

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