Heterogeneity of Circulating Tumor Cell Neoplastic Subpopulations Outlined by Single-Cell Transcriptomics.

ABSTRACT: Fatal metastasis occurs when circulating tumor cells (CTCs) disperse through the blood to initiate a new tumor at specific sites distant from the primary tumor. CTCs have been classically defined as nucleated cells positive for epithelial cell adhesion molecule and select cytokeratins (EpCAM/CK/DAPI), while negative for the common lymphocyte marker CD45. The enumeration of CTCs allows an estimation of the overall metastatic burden in breast cancer patients, but challenges regarding CTC heterogeneity and metastatic propensities persist, and their decryption could improve therapies. CTCs from metastatic breast cancer (mBC) patients were captured using the RareCyte^TM Cytefinder II platform. The Lin- and Lin+ (CD45+) cell populations isolated from the blood of three of these mBC pat

SUBMITTER: Pauken CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8508335 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature