The single-cell pathology landscape of breast cancer

Hartland W. Jackson, Jana R. Fischer, Vito R. T. Zanotelli, H. Raza Ali, Robert Mechera, Savas D. Soysal, Holger Moch, Simone Muenst, Zsuzsanna Varga, Walter P. Weber and Bernd Bodenmiller ()
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Hartland W. Jackson: University of Zurich
Jana R. Fischer: University of Zurich
Vito R. T. Zanotelli: University of Zurich
H. Raza Ali: University of Zurich
Robert Mechera: University of Basel and University Hospital Basel
Savas D. Soysal: University of Basel
Holger Moch: University Hospital Zurich
Simone Muenst: University Hospital Basel
Zsuzsanna Varga: University Hospital Zurich
Walter P. Weber: University of Basel and University Hospital Basel
Bernd Bodenmiller: University of Zurich

Nature, 2020, vol. 578, issue 7796, 615-620

Abstract: Abstract Single-cell analyses have revealed extensive heterogeneity between and within human tumours1–4, but complex single-cell phenotypes and their spatial context are not at present reflected in the histological stratification that is the foundation of many clinical decisions. Here we use imaging mass cytometry5 to simultaneously quantify 35 biomarkers, resulting in 720 high-dimensional pathology images of tumour tissue from 352 patients with breast cancer, with long-term survival data available for 281 patients. Spatially resolved, single-cell analysis identified the phenotypes of tumour and stromal single cells, their organization and their heterogeneity, and enabled the cellular architecture of breast cancer tissue to be characterized on the basis of cellular composition and tissue organization. Our analysis reveals multicellular features of the tumour microenvironment and novel subgroups of breast cancer that are associated with distinct clinical outcomes. Thus, spatially resolved, single-cell analysis can characterize intratumour phenotypic heterogeneity in a disease-relevant manner, with the potential to inform patient-specific diagnosis.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1876-x

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