单细胞测序 (SCS) 技术正在改变我们对细胞成分、功能和跨生物体相互作用的理解，因为它具有避免大量样本的基因型和表型异质性产生的噪音的固有优势。通过直接、单独测量数千至数百万个单细胞的多种分子特征，SCS 技术可以表征多种细胞类型，并揭示基因调控网络的机制、转录动态和蛋白质组分析的功能状态。在此背景下，我们对SCS技术进行了系统研究，包括scDNA、scRNA、scATAC、scCITE和scSNARE方法的基本概念、操作步骤和应用，重点关注SCS独特的临床优势，特别是在癌症治疗中。我们探索了具有挑战性但关键的领域，例如循环肿瘤细胞（CTC）、谱系追踪、肿瘤异质性、耐药性和肿瘤免疫治疗。尽管在管理和分析 SCS 产生的大量数据方面存在挑战，但这项技术有望揭示癌症研究的新视野。本综述旨在强调 SCS 在癌症研究中的关键作用，并促进单细胞技术在癌症治疗中的应用。版权所有 © 2023 Chen、Jiang、Du、Yang、Pan、Li 和 Cui。

Single-cell sequencing (SCS) technology is changing our understanding of cellular components, functions, and interactions across organisms, because of its inherent advantage of avoiding noise resulting from genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity across numerous samples. By directly and individually measuring multiple molecular characteristics of thousands to millions of single cells, SCS technology can characterize multiple cell types and uncover the mechanisms of gene regulatory networks, the dynamics of transcription, and the functional state of proteomic profiling. In this context, we conducted systematic research on SCS techniques, including the fundamental concepts, procedural steps, and applications of scDNA, scRNA, scATAC, scCITE, and scSNARE methods, focusing on the unique clinical advantages of SCS, particularly in cancer therapy. We have explored challenging but critical areas such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs), lineage tracing, tumor heterogeneity, drug resistance, and tumor immunotherapy. Despite challenges in managing and analyzing the large amounts of data that result from SCS, this technique is expected to reveal new horizons in cancer research. This review aims to emphasize the key role of SCS in cancer research and promote the application of single-cell technologies to cancer therapy.Copyright © 2023 Chen, Jiang, Du, Yang, Pan, Li and Cui.