Characterizing epithelial-mesenchymal transition-linked heterogeneity in breast cancer circulating tumor cells at a single-cell level.

ABSTRACT: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) generates heterogeneity in circulating tumor cells (CTCs), affecting their biological properties and hampering their detection. This limits our understanding of the mechanisms underlying hematogenous dissemination, especially in early breast cancer (BC), where CTCs are rare. Here, we aimed to detect CTCs with different EMT statuses from BC patients. CTCs in blood samples from 107 BC patients were evaluated using immunomagnetic depletion and multi-marker immunofluorescence (EpCAM, E-cadherin, MCAM, cell surface vimentin, CD31, CD45), followed by single-cell transcriptomics. CTCs were detected in 51.9% of therapy-naïve early BC cases, with 3.8% showing only epithelial CTCs (eCTCs), 5.8% epithelial-mesenchymal (emCTCs), 26.0% mesenchymal (mCTCs), and 16

SUBMITTER: Topa J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12688172 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature