Genomics Inform.  2019 Mar;17(1):e3. 10.5808/GI.2019.17.1.e3.

Identification of ERBB Pathway-Activated Cells in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

• Cho SY

• KMID: 2447793
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5808/GI.2019.17.1.e3

Abstract

Intratumor heterogeneity within a single tumor mass is one of the hallmarks of malignancy and has been reported in various tumor types. The molecular characterization of intratumor heterogeneity in breast cancer is a significant challenge for effective treatment. Using single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data from a public resource, an ERBB pathway activated triple-negative cell population was identified. The differential expression of three subtyping marker genes (ERBB2, ESR1, and PGR) was not changed in the bulk RNA-seq data, but the single-cell transcriptomes showed intratumor heterogeneity. This result shows that ERBB signaling is activated using an indirect route and that the molecular subtype is changed on a single-cell level. Our data propose a different view on breast cancer subtypes, clarifying much confusion in this field and contributing to precision medicine.

Keyword

breast neoplasms; ERBB signaling pathway; intratumor heterogeneity; molecular subtyping; single-cell RNA-seq

MeSH Terms

Breast Neoplasms
Population Characteristics
Precision Medicine
Sequence Analysis, RNA
Transcriptome
Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms*