2026-03-04 東京大学,聖マリアンナ医科大学
図1：空間的1細胞遺伝子発現解析
a) 原発腫瘍（P）、転移陽性リンパ節（ML）、腫瘍ドレナージリンパ節（TdL）からサンプルを採取し、空間的1細胞遺伝子発現解析に供した。中央パネルはHE染色を示す。右パネルは解析結果の可視化を示す。解析から得られた主要細胞タイプが色別で提示されている。b) TdL内に存在するわずか30個の転移がん細胞。これらのがん細胞は、ML内に存在するがん細胞と比べ、転移の極めて初期段階にある状態を反映していると考えられる。
＜関連情報＞
- https://www.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/information/category/press/0029095.html
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41523-026-00897-1
空間的遺伝子発現解析により、乳がんの極めて早期のリンパ節転移の要因が明らかになった Spatial gene expression analysis reveals drivers of extremely early lymph node metastasis in breast cancer
Satoi Nagasawa,Keiko Kajiya,Erina Ishikawa,Akinori Kanai,Ayako Suzuki,Ai Motoyoshi,Tsuguo Iwatani,Manabu Kubota,Masaru Nakamura,Tatsuya Onishi,Akiyoshi Hoshino,Ichiro Maeda,Akihiko Morozumi,Kenji Takatsuka,Junki Koike,Masahide Seki,Koichiro Tsugawa & Yutaka Suzuki
npj Breast Cancer Published:23 January 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41523-026-00897-1
Abstract
Lymph node metastasis correlates with breast cancer prognosis; however, the cellular mechanisms underlying the earliest metastatic events remain unclear. In spatial transcriptomic analysis of a patient with breast cancer at single-cell resolution, we identified 30 tumor cells representing the initial metastatic seeding in a lymph node. These cells originated from multiple epithelial–mesenchymal (EM) transition status and included six distinct subpopulations with biological significance. Only cells exhibiting a metabolic shift toward fatty acid metabolism successfully established lymph node colonies, implicating this shift in metastatic fitness. The tumor microenvironment surrounding these cells showed immunosuppressive and tumor-promoting features, supporting metastasis establishment. Cross-referencing these expression profiles with public datasets revealed that poor prognosis correlated not with fully mesenchymal or metastatic populations, but with hybrid EM cells exhibiting epithelial and mesenchymal traits. These findings highlight the metabolic and phenotypic plasticity of metastatic cells and serve as translational bridges between the spatial evolution of tumor cells in the extremely early stages of lymph node metastasis and clinical prognosis in breast cancer.
