Single-cell evaluation reveals shifts in the tumor-immune niches that shape and maintain aggressive lesions in the breast.

ABSTRACT: There is an unmet clinical need for stratification of breast lesions as indolent or aggressive to tailor treatment. Here, single-cell transcriptomics and multiparametric imaging applied to a mouse model of breast cancer reveals that the aggressive tumor niche is characterized by an expanded basal-like population, specialization of tumor subpopulations, and mixed-lineage tumor cells potentially serving as a transition state between luminal and basal phenotypes. Despite vast tumor cell-intrinsic differences, aggressive and indolent tumor cells are functionally indistinguishable once isolated from their local niche, suggesting a role for non-tumor collaborators in determining aggressiveness. Aggressive lesions harbor fewer total but more suppressed-like T cells, and elevated tumor-promoting n

SUBMITTER: Sinha VC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8373912 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature