Single-cell whole-genome sequencing identifies human papillomavirus integration in cervical tumour cells prior to and following radiotherapy

Single-cell sequencing technology is a promising systematic and comprehensive approach to delineate clonal associations between cells. The present study collected 13 and 12 cervical cells from fresh tumour tissue prior to and following radiotherapy, respectively, from a 46-year-old female patient with exogenous-type cervical carcinoma. Next, single-cell whole-genome sequencing analysis was performed on each cell. Examination revealed that normal cells could be clearly distinguished from tumour cells among the 25 cells. Tumour cells prior to and following radiotherapy almost represented two independent clones, with the main subpopulation prior to radiotherapy being killed and the minor subpopulation prior to radiotherapy becoming the main subpopulation following radiotherapy. A human papillomavirus (HPV) integration site was detected in POU class 5 homeobox 1B (POU5F1B) in tumour cells following radiotherapy, which has been reported to be a frequent HPV integration site in cervical carcinoma. These results indicate that tumour cells with HPV integration in POU5F1B survive radiotherapy, and that tumour cells prior to and following radiotherapy exhibit distinct characteristics.