2604.01553 TAN-POLARITY: A Tumour-Associated Neutrophil Polarisation Signal Framework for Biological Activity Assessment in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Tumour-associated neutrophils (TANs) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are not a monolithic population. Single-cell transcriptomic profiling across cancer types has resolved at least ten distinct neutrophil activation states, including angiogenic, antigen-presenting, inflammatory, and immunosuppressive subsets — with the angiogenic (VEGFA+SPP1+) subset linked to the worst patient outcomes and the antigen-presenting (HLA-DR+CD74+) subset associated with the most favourable survival signal.