Comprehensive description of the current breast cancer microenvironment advancements via single-cell analysis

• Published in: Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research Vol. 40; no. 1; p. 142
• Main Authors: Yan, Xueqi, Xie, Yinghong, Yang, Fan, Hua, Yijia, Zeng, Tianyu, Sun, Chunxiao, Yang, Mengzhu, Huang, Xiang, Wu, Hao, Fu, Ziyi, Li, Wei, Jiao, Shiping, Yin, Yongmei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 27-04-2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Analysis; Breast cancer; Cancer therapies; Carboplatin; Cell cycle; Chemotherapy; Classification schemes; Cytokines; Development and progression; DNA sequencing; Gene expression; Genotype & phenotype; Health aspects; Kinases; Medical prognosis; Mutation; Nucleotide sequencing; Patients; Review; RNA; RNA sequencing; Single-cell DNA sequencing; Single-cell RNA sequencing; Tumor microenvironment; Tumors; Canada; Breast cancer; Tumor microenvironment; Single-cell RNA sequencing; Single-cell DNA sequencing
• ISSN: 1756-9966; 0392-9078; 1756-9966
• DOI: 10.1186/s13046-021-01949-z

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with a complex microenvironment consisting of tumor cells, immune cells, fibroblasts and vascular cells. These cancer-associated cells shape the tumor microenvironment (TME) and influence the progression of breast cancer and the therapeutic responses in patients. The exact composition of the intra-tumoral cells is mixed as the highly heterogeneous and dynamic nature of the TME. Recent advances in single-cell technologies such as single-cell DNA sequencing (scDNA-seq), single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and mass cytometry have provided new insights into the phenotypic and functional diversity of tumor-infiltrating cells in breast cancer. In this review, we have outlined the recent progress in single-cell characterization of breast tumor ecosystems, and summarized the phenotypic diversity of intra-tumoral cells and their potential prognostic relevance.