Patient-aware single-cell analysis of fibrovascular remodeling in a predominantly colorectal cancer immunotherapy cohort

Background

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and vascular mural cells may shape extracellular matrix organization in colorectal cancer. However, single-cell comparisons are susceptible to unequal cell recovery, ambient RNA, doublets, treatment-stage mixing, and repeated sampling within patients. We investigated fibrovascular remodeling using patients as the inferential unit and distinguished reproducible signals from donor-concentrated and context-dependent findings.