Application of Single-Cell Sequencing to Immunotherapy

Urol Clin North Am. 2020 Nov;47(4):475-485. doi: 10.1016/j.ucl.2020.07.005. Epub 2020 Sep 9.

Abstract

Cancer is a highly complex and heterogeneous disease and immunotherapy has shown promise as a therapeutic approach. The increased resolution afforded by single-cell analysis offers the hope of finding and characterizing previously underappreciated populations of cells that could prove useful in understanding cancer progression and treatment. Urologic and prostate cancers are inherently heterogeneous diseases, and the potential for single-cell analysis to help understand and develop immunotherapeutic approaches to treat these diseases is very exciting. In this review, we view cancer immunotherapy through a single-cell lens and discuss the state-of-the-art technologies that enable advances in this field.

Keywords: Cancer; Immunotherapy; Prostate cancer; Single-cell analysis; Tumor heterogeneity; Urologic cancer.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Female
  • Forecasting
  • Humans
  • Immunotherapy / methods*
  • Male
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy / methods*
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy / trends
  • Prognosis
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Risk Assessment
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA
  • Single-Cell Analysis
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Tumor Microenvironment / drug effects*
  • Tumor Microenvironment / genetics
  • Urologic Neoplasms / genetics
  • Urologic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Urologic Neoplasms / therapy