Organizing the Cellular and Molecular Heterogeneity in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer by Mass Cytometry
Abstract
Tumor heterogeneity in high grade serous ovarian cancer (HG-SOC) represents a significant barrier for successful therapeutic intervention. To further understand the cell types contributing to this heterogeneity we performed a comprehensive phenotypic characterization of 22 primary ovarian tumor samples. Our unsupervised analysis revealed shared and circumscribed patterns of tumor cell types across multiple HG-SOC primary samples. In addition to identifying cells characteristic of epithelial tumors we found several repeatedly observed, though previously unrecognized, cell types. These included three unique E-cadherin-expressing cell subsets, cell subsets co-expressing E-cadherin and vimentin and critically one subset that co-expressed high levels of all stem cell markers interrogated. Poorer prognosis tumors had an increased frequency of cells co-expressing vimentin, HE4 and cMyc and also showed greater overall phenotypic heterogeneity quantified by Simpsons Diversity Index. Importantly the novel cell types identified have the potential to become a focus for developing new therapies as well as a means of monitoring the disease.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1039026
Entities
People
- Garry P. Nolan
- Wendy J. Fantl
Organizations
- Stanford University