Single-cell transcriptomics of neuroblastoma tumors

Neuroblastoma is a rare embryonic tumor arising from neural crest development and is responsible for 15% of pediatric cancer-related deaths. Over the past years, several single-cell transcriptome studies were performed to investigate the cell-of-origin and tumor heterogeneity. These individual studies typically involved a limited number of neuroblastoma tumors. To overcome this limitation, we integrated seven single-cell or single-nucleus data sets into a harmonized cell atlas covering 362,991 cells across 68 patient samples. We use this integrated atlas to decipher the transcriptional tumoral landscape of neuroblastoma at single-cell resolution. Notably, within the tumor compartment, we find associations between transcriptomic profiles and clinical outcomes. In addition, we characterize the complex immune cell landscape of neuroblastoma and uncover considerable heterogeneity amongst tumor-associated macrophages. Finally, we showcase the utility of our atlas as a resource by expanding it with new data and using it as a reference for data-driven cell type prediction.