Single-cell RNA sequencing of circulating epithelial cells in non-metastatic breast cancer patients

In this study, we aimed to assess the diversity of circulating epithelial cells (CECs) in non-metastatic breast cancers using scRNA-seq of blood samples after negative selection with CD45, glycophorin A (erythrocyte), and CD66b (granulocyte) markers. Mainly, we focused on the analysis of CD45-negative CECs. Nevertheless, since negative selection removed not all CD45-positive cells, emphasis was also given to CD45-positive CECs. In addition to the analysis of the population structure of CD45-negative CECs and CD45-positive CECs, we attempted to identify circulating tumor cells and tumor hybrid cells.In total, 20 non-metastatic breast cancer patients (T1-4N0-3M0, all molecular subtypes) and 1 cancer-free donor have been included.