Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27931250›Full record

ArticleGenome biology2016

Tracing the origin of disseminated tumor cells in breast cancer using single-cell sequencing.

Jonas Demeulemeester, Parveen Kumar, Elen K Møller, Silje Nord, David C Wedge, April Peterson, Randi R Mathiesen, Renathe Fjelldal, Masoud Zamani Esteki, Koen Theunis and 10 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Genome biology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
46citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 30% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

46 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
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  8. Testing for Phylogenetic Signal in Single-Cell RNA-Seq Data.Journal of computational biology : a journal of computational molecular cell biology · 2023
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  15. Mechanisms of breast cancer metastasis.Clinical & experimental metastasis · 2022
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.

Jonas DemeulemeesterThe Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2660-2478
Parveen KumarDepartment of Human Genetics, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Elen K MøllerDepartment of Genetics, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
Silje NordDepartment of Genetics, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
David C WedgeCancer Genome Project, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK.
April PetersonInstitute for Genomics & Systems Biology and Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Randi R MathiesenDepartment of Genetics, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
Renathe FjelldalDepartment of Pathology, Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
Masoud Zamani EstekiDepartment of Human Genetics, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Koen TheunisDepartment of Human Genetics, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Elia Fernandez GallardoDepartment of Human Genetics, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
A Jason GrundstadInstitute for Genomics & Systems Biology and Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Elin BorgenDepartment of Pathology, Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
Lars O BaumbuschDepartment of Genetics, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
Anne-Lise Børresen-DaleDepartment of Genetics, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
Kevin P WhiteInstitute for Genomics & Systems Biology and Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. kpwhite@uchicago.edu.
Vessela N KristensenDepartment of Genetics, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway. v.n.kristensen@medisin.uio.no.
Peter Van LooThe Francis Crick Institute, London, UK. Peter.VanLoo@crick.ac.uk.
Thierry VoetDepartment of Human Genetics, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Thierry.Voet@med.kuleuven.be.
Bjørn NaumeDepartment of Oncology, Division of Surgery and Cancer Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet, Oslo, Norway. bjorn.naume@medisin.uio.no.
Oslo University Hospital · NOKU Leuven · BEThe Francis Crick Institute · GBUniversity of Chicago · US

Funding

Cancer Research UK FC001202Medical Research Council FC001202Wellcome Trust FC001202
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSingle-cell micro-metastases of solid tumors often occur in the bone marrow. These disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) may resist therapy and lay dormant or progress to cause overt bone and visceral metastases. The molecular nature of DTCs remains elusive, as well as when and from where in the tumor they originate. Here, we apply single-cell sequencing to identify and trace the origin of DTCs in breast cancer.

resultsWe sequence the genomes of 63 single cells isolated from six non-metastatic breast cancer patients. By comparing the cells' DNA copy number aberration (CNA) landscapes with those of the primary tumors and lymph node metastasis, we establish that 53% of the single cells morphologically classified as tumor cells are DTCs disseminating from the observed tumor. The remaining cells represent either non-aberrant "normal" cells or "aberrant cells of unknown origin" that have CNA landscapes discordant from the tumor. Further analyses suggest that the prevalence of aberrant cells of unknown origin is age-dependent and that at least a subset is hematopoietic in origin. Evolutionary reconstruction analysis of bulk tumor and DTC genomes enables ordering of CNA events in molecular pseudo-time and traced the origin of the DTCs to either the main tumor clone, primary tumor subclones, or subclones in an axillary lymph node metastasis.

conclusionsSingle-cell sequencing of bone marrow epithelial-like cells, in parallel with intra-tumor genetic heterogeneity profiling from bulk DNA, is a powerful approach to identify and study DTCs, yielding insight into metastatic processes. A heterogeneous population of CNA-positive cells is present in the bone marrow of non-metastatic breast cancer patients, only part of which are derived from the observed tumor lineages.

Indexed as

Sequence Analysis, DNASingle-Cell AnalysisAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAmino Acid SubstitutionAxillaBiomarkers, TumorBone Marrow CellsBreast NeoplasmsDNA Copy Number VariationsHumansImmunohistochemistryLymph NodesMiddle AgedMutationBiomarkers, TumorDisseminated tumor cellsIntra-tumor genetic heterogeneityMetastasisPhylogenySingle-cell sequencing

Identifiers

PMID27931250
PMCPMC5146893
OpenAlexW2472914491

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.