Single-cell analyses reveal lymph node-tumor ecosystem remodeling during lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer.

Lymph node-tumor ecosystem remodeling during gastric cancer metastasis involves dynamic immune cell changes and is linked to specific molecular pathways.

• Why it matters: Understanding the cellular and molecular alterations in lymph nodes during metastasis can reveal targets for therapeutic intervention and improve disease management.
• What they did: Single-cell transcriptomic and T cell receptor profiling of 156,871 cells from 30 gastric cancer samples was performed, covering non-metastatic to macro-metastatic stages.
• The result: Findings show LN-enriched progenitor exhausted T cells as a reservoir for exhausted CD8+ T cells, and ILC3s promote a pro-metastatic environment via the AREG-EGFR axis, suggesting new therapeutic targets.