Investigating intratumour heterogeneity by single-cell sequencing

Intratumour heterogeneity is a longstanding field of focus for both researchers and clinicians. It refers to the diversity amongst cells within the same tumour. Two major hypotheses have attempted to explain the existence of intratumour heterogeneity: (i) the clonal evolution (CE) theory and (ii) the cancer stem cell (CSC) model. CE theory emphasizes the evolutionary biological characteristics of the tumour, underscoring the initiation and progression of the disease. In contrast, the CSC model focuses on stem cell differentiation into distinct functions in order to stabilize the tumour microenvironment. Here we consider single-cell sequencing (SCS) as a newly developed technique for application to the investigation of intratumour heterogeneity and assess its relevance within research and clinical environments. Early detection of rare tumour cells, monitoring of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and control of the occurrence of drug resistance are important goals in early diagnosis, prognosis prediction and individualized medicine.