Single-Cell RNA Sequencing in Cancer: Lessons Learned and Emerging Challenges

• Published in: Molecular cell Vol. 75; no. 1; pp. 7 - 12
• Main Authors: Suvà, Mario L., Tirosh, Itay
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 11.07.2019
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Cell Communication; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Lineage; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing - methods; Humans; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Neoplasms - genetics; Neoplasms - metabolism; Neoplasms - pathology; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating - metabolism; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating - pathology; RNA, Neoplasm - genetics; RNA, Neoplasm - metabolism; Single-Cell Analysis - methods; single-cell genomics; single-cell RNA-seq; tumor heterogeneity; single-cell genomics; single-cell RNA-seq; tumor heterogeneity
• ISSN: 1097-2765; 1097-4164
• DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2019.05.003

Bulk genomic analyses and expression profiling of clinical specimens have shaped much of our understanding of cancer in patients. However, human tumors are intricate ecosystems composed of diverse cells, including malignant, immune, and stromal subsets, whose precise characterization is masked by bulk genomic methods. Single-cell genomic techniques have emerged as powerful approaches to dissect human tumors at the resolution of individual cells, providing a compelling approach to deciphering cancer biology. Here, we discuss some of the common themes emerging from initial studies of single-cell RNA sequencing in cancer and then highlight challenges in cancer biology for which emerging single-cell genomics methods may provide a compelling approach. Single-cell RNA-seq recently emerged as a powerful approach to dissecting normal and diseased tissues. Suvà and Tirosh discuss the application of single-cell RNA-seq to human tumors, describe common themes from initial studies, and highlight challenges in cancer biology that will be investigated by future studies.