Neutrophils Escort Circulating Tumor Cells to Enable Cell Cycle Progression

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are precursors of metastasis in several cancer types, and are occasionally found within the bloodstream in association with non-malignant cells such as white blood cells (WBCs). The identity and function of these CTC-associated WBCs, as well as the molecular features that define the interaction between WBCs and CTCs are unknown. Here, we achieve the isolation and interrogation of individual CTC-associated WBCs, alongside with corresponding cancer cells within each CTC-WBC-cluster, from multiple breast cancer patients and mouse models. Single-cell RNA-Seq from CTCs and CTC-WBC-clusters obtained from multiple breast cancer patients and mouse models were used to identify CTC-associated WBCs cell types and differential expression between CTCs alone and CTC-associated to WBC.