Thank you for visiting nature. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer. In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. Male breast cancer MBC is a rare but aggressive malignancy with cellular and immunological characteristics that remain unclear.
Here, we perform transcriptomic analysis for , single cells from tumor tissues of six MBC and thirteen female breast cancer FBC patients. Metastasis-related programs are more active in cancer cells from MBC. In contrast, T cells in FBC exhibit higher expression of cytotoxic markers and immune activation pathways mediated by immune-modulatory cytokines.
Moreover, we identify the inhibitory interactions between cancer cells and T cells in MBC. Our study provides important information for understanding the tumor immunology and metabolism of MBC. Studies have shown that the ER loci associated with patient prognosis are sex-selective 6. Hormonal status has raised concerns regarding the use of aromatase inhibitors in male patients, and the best choice of endocrine therapy for MBC is still controversial 6.
Furthermore, the energy metabolism and immune response to malignancy are different between males and females 7 , 8 , such as bladder and lung cancers 9 , The undiscovered pathological characteristics of MBC may contribute to the poor outcome in male patients.
Therefore, it is urgent to clarify the tumor microenvironment and metabolism features of MBC to better understand the underlying mechanisms of MBC development. The complex composition of the tumor microenvironment presents a considerable challenge to study the molecular mechanism of MBC.
