Copy number alterations (CNAs) play an important role in molding the genomes of breast cancers and have been shown to be clinically useful for prognostic and therapeutic purposes. However, our knowledge of intra-tumoral genetic heterogeneity of this important class of somatic alterations is limited. Here, using single-cell sequencing, we comprehensively map out the facets of copy number alteration heterogeneity in a cohort of breast cancer tumors. Ou/var/www/html/elife/12-05-2020/backup/r analyses reveal: genetic heterogeneity of non-tumor cells (i.e. stroma) within the tumor mass; the extent to which copy number heterogeneity impacts breast cancer genomes and the importance of both the genomic location and dosage of sub-clonal events; the pervasive nature of genetic heterogeneity of chromosomal amplifications; and the association of copy number heterogeneity with clinical and biological parameters such as polyploidy and estrogen receptor negative status. Our data highlight the power of single-cell genomics in dissecting, in its many forms, intra-tumoral genetic heterogeneity of CNAs, the magnitude with which CNA heterogeneity affects the genomes of breast cancers, and the potential importance of CNA heterogeneity in phenomena such as therapeutic resistance and disease relapse.
Keywords: breast cancer; cancer; cancer biology; copy number alterations; genetics; genomics; human; single-cell sequencing.
Cells in the body remain healthy by tightly preventing and repairing random changes, or mutations, in their genetic material. In cancer cells, however, these mechanisms can break down. When these cells grow and multiply, they can then go on to accumulate many mutations. As a result, cancer cells in the same tumor can each contain a unique combination of genetic changes. This genetic heterogeneity has the potential to affect how cancer responds to treatment, and is increasingly becoming appreciated clinically. For example, if a drug only works against cancer cells carrying a specific mutation, any cells lacking this genetic change will keep growing and cause a relapse. However, it is still difficult to quantify and understand genetic heterogeneity in cancer. Copy number alterations (or CNAs) are a class of mutation where large and small sections of genetic material are gained or lost. This can result in cells that have an abnormal number of copies of the genes in these sections. Here, Baslan et al. set out to explore how CNAs might vary between individual cancer cells within the same tumor. To do so, thousands of individual cancer cells were isolated from human breast tumors, and a technique called single-cell genome sequencing used to screen the genetic information of each of them. These experiments confirmed that CNAs did differ – sometimes dramatically – between patients and among cells taken from the same tumor. For example, many of the cells carried extra copies of well-known cancer genes important for treatment, but the exact number of copies varied between cells. This heterogeneity existed for individual genes as well as larger stretches of DNA: this was the case, for instance, for an entire section of chromosome 8, a region often affected in breast and other tumors. The work by Baslan et al. captures the sheer extent of genetic heterogeneity in cancer and in doing so, highlights the power of single-cell genome sequencing. In the future, a finer understanding of the genetic changes present at the level of an individual cancer cell may help clinicians to manage the disease more effectively.