Tumor-infiltrating B cells and plasma cells influence early-stage lung cancer

Through extensive single-cell analysis, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have created a spatial map of tumor-infiltrating B cells and plasma cells in early- stage lung cancers, highlighting previously unappreciated roles these immune cells play in tumor development and treatment outcomes.

The study, published in Cancer Discovery, represents the largest and most comprehensive single-cell atlas on tumor-infiltrating B cells and plasma cells to date, which can be used to develop novel immunotherapy strategies.

Improved screening approaches have increased the proportion of lung cancers diagnosed at early stages. Surgery is curative for some patients, but new treatment approaches are needed because many still experience a recurrence of their disease. Understanding the early interactions between cancer cells and immune cells could reveal opportunities to block cancer growth or boost the anti-tumor immune response.

To better understand the roles of these cells in early lung cancer development, the researchersperformed single-cell analysis on 16 tumors and 47 matched normal lung tissues. The researchers performed single-cell RNA sequencing on roughly 50,000 unique B cells and plasma cells to analyze their gene expression profiles. They also completed single-cell B cell receptor sequencing on more than 70,000 cells to understand the repertoires of B cell receptors, the membrane-bound proteins on the cell surface that recognize antigens.

The study identified 12 different cell subsets, with more differentiated states (memory B cells and plasma cells) being highly enriched in the tumors relative to adjacent normal tissue.

Reference:

LINGHUA WANG et al,A full list of collaborating authors and their disclosures can be found with the full paper here.,Cancer Discovery