Characterization of single disseminated prostate cancer cells reveals tumor cell heterogeneity and identifies dormancy associated pathways.

ABSTRACT: Cancer dormancy refers to the prolonged clinical disease-free time between removal of the primary tumor and recurrence, which is common in prostate cancer (PCa), breast cancer, esophageal cancer, and other cancers. PCa disseminated tumor cells (DTC) are detected in both patients with no evidence of disease (NED) and advanced disease (ADV). However, the molecular and cellular nature of DTC is unknown. We performed a first-in-field study of single DTC transcriptomic analyses in cancer patients to identify a molecular signature associated with cancer dormancy. We profiled eighty-five individual EpCAM⁺/CD45⁻ cells from the bone marrow of PCa patients with NED or ADV. We analyzed 44 DTC with high prostate-epithelial signatures, and eliminated 41 cells with high erythroid signatures and low pros

SUBMITTER: Chery L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4259449 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature