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Review
. 2017 Sep 20;9(408):eaan4730.
doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aan4730.

Single-cell analyses to tailor treatments

Alex K Shalek  1   2   3 , Mikael Benson  4
Affiliations
Review

Single-cell analyses to tailor treatments

Alex K Shalek et al. Sci Transl Med. .

Abstract

Single-cell RNA-seq could play a key role in personalized medicine by facilitating characterization of cells, pathways, and genes associated with human diseases such as cancer.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
scRNA-seq applications in cancer medicine. (A) Bulk analysis of a tumor identifies the predominant malignant clone and suggests a drug to target it but not other clones. (B) scRNA-seq resolves each clone within a tumor, as well as the corresponding biomarkers and cognate drugs, enabling successful therapy. (C) Longitudinal profiling of patient samples with scRNA-seq (or biomarkers discovered with it) can be used to monitor disease state and select the appropriate time to treat, given the benefits and costs of intervention. (D) Analysis of samples before and after treatment may reveal subsets refractory to a given therapy, as well as their biomarkers and mechanisms of resistance. (E) Because of its sensitivity, scRNA-seq might also be used in a clinical setting for detection of rare disease-associated cells (such as minimal residual disease), which would have been missed by bulk analyses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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