High dimensional single cell analysis and clustering of CTCs isolated from patients with breast cancer.

<p>Heatmap of single cell gene expression for 31-gene subset data derived from 105 CTCs isolated from patients with primary and metastatic breast cancer. Yellow indicates high gene expression; gray is median expression; blue indicates low expression; and black represents undetectable expression. The samples reveal two robust clusters for CTCs (lavender: Cluster I; turquoise blue: Cluster II). In addition to epithelial markers, these genes include pathways associated with EMT, metastasis, and AKT/mTOR signaling.