Single-cell Transcriptome Analysis Revealed that EGFR Mutation Leads to a Suppressive Tumor Immune Microenvironment in Lung Adenocarcinoma

We analyzed 40,799 single cells from nine samples and found that in EGFR-mutant LUAD, tumor cells generated an immunosuppressive microenvironment by releasing cytokines to attract suppressive immune cells such as myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) directly or indirectly by interacting with macrophages, dendritic cells, or other cell types. By contrast, EGFR wild-type LUAD had a greater ability to recruit immunocompetent T cells such as TRMs and Th1 cells, thus driving a proinflammatory microenvironment. To evaluate the cellular landscape of the TME of lung adenocarcinoma based on EGFR mutation status, we collected nine tumor samples from eight patients with treatment-naïve LUAD for scRNA-seq and bioinformatic analyses.