Pan-cancer single-cell atlas of mouse and human tumor-associated dendritic cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) are critical inducers of anti-tumor immunity. Yet, a comprehensive mapping of mouse and human DC subsets and states in a cancer context is lacking. Aiming to address this knowledge gap, we have generated pan-cancer mouse and human tumor-associated DC (TADC) scRNA-seq atlases, encompassing 15 mouse tumor models and 10 human cancer types, within which we identified several lineage-defined DC subsets along with functional states. We show that TADCs acquire an inflammatory profile with tumor progression and that tumor-mediated reprogramming occurs within the DCs from lymph nodes of tumor-bearing mice. Importantly, we demonstrate that TADCs are conserved across mice and human, and that gene signatures of different TADC subsets/states correlate with patient outcomes. Overall, we provide an in-depth characterization of the TADC compartment in mouse and human cancers, which can improve our understanding of the tumor microenvironment and contribute to the development of new anti-cancer therapies.