Heterogeneity of vascular cells in different breast cancer subtypes revealed by single-cell RNA-seq analysis

Abstract

Breast cancer is a common type of malignant tumor developing from breast tissue that happens in women, which can be triggered by both genetic and environmental factors. Nowadays, it is increasing recognized as a global public health problem. Despite some treatments have been used, there are still many challenges in treating breast cancer due to the recurrence and metastasis. The development of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology has shown great potential in deeply discovering the molecular mechanism of breast cancer. In this study, we processed scRNA-seq data of patients from different types of breast cancer subtypes, extracted and integrated the vascular cells, and found a distinct tumor-specific endothelial cell. The results not only showed the power of meta-analysis of existing single-cell data, but also revealed the detailed characteristics of vascular cells in different conditions, yielding light to future medical treatments in breast cancer.