Single-cell transcriptomes reveal the mechanism for a breast cancer prognostic gene panel

The clinical benefits of the MammaPrint(®) signature for breast cancer is well documented; however, how these genes are related to cell cycle perturbation have not been well determined. Our single-cell transcriptome mapping (algorithm) provides details into the fine perturbation of all individual genes during a cell cycle, providing a view of the cell-cycle-phase specific landscape of any given human genes. Specifically, we identified that 38 out of the 70 (54%) MammaPrint(®) signature genes are perturbated to a specific phase of the cell cycle. The MammaPrint(®) signature panel derived its clinical prognosis power from measuring the cell cycle activity of specific breast cancer samples. Such cell cycle phase index of the MammaPrint(®) signature suggested that measurement of the cell cycle index from tumors could be developed into a prognosis tool for various types of cancer beyond breast cancer, potentially improving therapy through targeting a specific phase of the cell cycle of cancer cells.