Expression profiling of small cellular samples in cancer: less is more

Expression profiling of tumours from cancer patients has uncovered several genes that are critically important in the progression of a normal cell to an oncogenic phenotype. Leading the way in these discoveries is the use of microarrays, a technology that is currently in transition from basic science applications to use in the clinic. Microarrays can determine the global gene regulation of an individual cancer, which may be useful in formulating an individualised therapy for the patient. Currently, cells used in breast cancer microarray studies often come from either homogenous cultures or heterogeneous biopsy samples. Both cell sources are at a disadvantage in determining the most accurate gene profile of cancer, which often consists of multiple subspecies of cancerous cells within a background of normal cells. Therefore, acquisition of small, but highly specific biopsies for analysis may be required for an accurate expression analysis of the disease. Amplification methods, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and amplified antisense RNA (aRNA) amplification, have been used to amplify the mRNA signal from very small samples, which can then be used for microarray analysis. In this study, we describe the acquisition, amplification, and analysis of very small samples (< 10 000 cells) for expression analysis and demonstrate that the ultimate resolution of cancer expression analysis, one cell, is both feasible and practical.