Single-cell analyses reveal increased intratumoral heterogeneity after the onset of therapy resistance in small-cell lung cancer

The natural history of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) includes rapid evolution from chemosensitivity to chemoresistance, although mechanisms underlying this evolution remain obscure due to the scarcity of post-relapse tissue samples. We generated circulating tumor cell (CTC)-derived xenografts from patients with SCLC to study intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH) via single-cell RNA sequencing of chemosensitive and chemoresistant CTC-derived xenografts and patient CTCs. We found globally increased ITH, including heterogeneous expression of therapeutic targets and potential resistance pathways, such as epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, between cellular subpopulations following treatment resistance. Similarly, serial profiling of patient CTCs directly from blood confirmed increased ITH post-relapse. These findings suggest that treatment resistance in SCLC is characterized by coexisting subpopulations of cells with heterogeneous gene expression leading to multiple, concurrent resistance mechanisms. These findings emphasize the need for clinical efforts to focus on rational combination therapies for treatment-naïve SCLC tumors to maximize initial responses and counteract the emergence of ITH and diverse resistance mechanisms. Stewart et al. use circulating tumor cell-derived xenografts from patients with small-cell lung cancer to study tumor heterogeneity following the onset of therapeutic resistance.