Mapping immune exhaustion zones inside cervical cancer reveals new immunotherapy targets.
Single-cell RNA and TCR sequencing on paired tumor core and edge samples from 13 cervical squamous cell carcinoma patients found tumor cores had higher T cell exhaustion. Four exhausted CD8+ T cell subsets were identified; a stress-associated HSP-expressing subset inversely correlated with survival…
Mapping immune exhaustion zones inside cervical cancer reveals new immunotherapy targets.
Single-cell RNA and TCR sequencing on paired tumor core and edge samples from 13 cervical squamous cell carcinoma patients found tumor cores had higher T cell exhaustion. Four exhausted CD8+ T cell subsets were identified; a stress-associated HSP-expressing subset inversely correlated with survival after radiotherapy. CD8+ Teff-CD160 cells with broad clonal sharing were associated with favorable prognosis.
Key Findings
- Tumor core vs. edge shows distinct T cell exhaustion and clonality
- Four exhausted CD8+ T cell subsets identified
- HSP-expressing exhausted subset inversely correlated with post-radiotherapy survival
- CD8+ Teff-CD160 cells associated with favorable prognosis
- TCR clonal diversity lower in tumor cores
Implications
Spatial T cell mapping provides biomarker candidates for immunotherapy stratification and drug target identification in cervical cancer.
Caveats
Small sample (n=13); abstract-only. Correlative, hypothesis-generating findings require validation in larger cohorts.
Source: Journal of medical virology — 2026-04-01
