Characterization of tumour microenvironment landscape of mouse oral cancer tumours

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are among the most abundant TME components and have been associated with poor survival and T cells exclusion. However, the mechanisms that link CAFs presence with T cell blockade are unclear and there is a huge unmet medical need to increase T cell accessibility inside tumour cores.

Here, we established single cell RNAseq of syngeneic murine models of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that recapitulate different tumour-stroma organizations and evolutions (MOC1 and MOC2). MOC1 tumours are immune indolent and transition from a T cell infiltrated to an immune excluded/desert TME over time. MOC2 are more aggressive and are rich in myeloid cells while being T cell desert.