Molecular phenotypes stratify small cell lung cancer for targeted therapy and immunotherapy

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC), an aggressive neuroendocrine malignancy, exhibits high intertumoral heterogeneity and limited treatment options. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) provide only modest benefits for SCLC, underscoring the need for clinically actionable phenotypes.

Consensus clustering of bulk transcriptomic data identified SCLC molecular phenotypes. Bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) revealed their molecular and immune characteristics, as well as tumor microenvironment interactions. Survival benefits of ICIs were assessed in 41 newly collected extensive-stage SCLC (ES-SCLC) patients treated with chemotherapy plus ICIs, integrated with a public dataset.

We identified three distinct SCLC phenotypes, termed proliferative, iNotch, and infiltrated phenotypes, as they were characterized by high proliferation, inhibitory Notch signaling, and immune-rich microenvironments, respectively. These phenotypes were reproducible across three bulk independent datasets. Further intercellular communication analysis of scRNA-seq data revealed a subset with high ANXA1 expression in the infiltrated phenotype suppressed CD8⁺ T cells via M2 macrophage polarization. Survival analyses showed that only ANXA1^Low infiltrated patients derived significant survival benefit from chemotherapy plus ICIs.

This study identified three distinct SCLC phenotypes with unique therapeutic vulnerabilities. An ANXA1^High subset within the immune-rich infiltrated phenotype showed ICI resistance, offering new strategies to enhance ICI efficacy.