Spatial omics technology potentially promotes the progress of tumor immunotherapy

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Immunology
• Genomics

Background:

• Immunotherapy is crucial for cancer treatment but faces challenges like resistance and variable patient responses.
• The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a key role in therapeutic outcomes.
• Spatial omics technologies are emerging as vital tools for dissecting the TME.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a comprehensive overview of spatial omics technologies.
• To discuss the spatial heterogeneity of the TME and its implications for cancer.
• To summarize the applications and challenges of spatial omics in cancer immunotherapy.

Main Methods:

• Review of origins, classifications, and characteristics of spatial omics modalities.
• Analysis of TME heterogeneity using spatial context.
• Summary of spatial omics applications in cancer therapies and cellular interactions.

Main Results:

• Spatial omics preserves spatial context and integrates multimodal data, surpassing single-cell sequencing.
• Phenotypic differences in immune cells (B cells, T cells) near tumorous tissues are observed.
• Advancements in understanding cellular interactions and tertiary lymphoid structures are highlighted.

Conclusions:

• Spatial omics is essential for understanding TME complexity and improving immunotherapy.
• Broader application of spatial omics can uncover novel therapeutic targets.
• Integration with other technologies can lead to precision immunotherapy for cancer.