Recent publications
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Stromal Cell Subsets Modulate T-cell Infiltration in Early Breast CancerNew List Item
Chen, J., Zhang, H., Ruan, T., Wu, S. Z., Slapetova, I., Millar, E., . . . Swarbrick, A. (2026), Cancer Res Commun, 6(7).
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Endocrine therapy reprogramming of breast cancer facilitates metastatic escape via upregulation of P-Rex1/Rac1 signalling
Fernandez, K. J., Sultani, G., Nobis, M., Gloss, B., Eshraghi, L., McCart Reed, A. E., . . . Caldon, C. E. (2026). Nat Commun, 17(1).
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Single-Cell and Spatial Transcriptomic Profiling Reveals Epithelial Functional States and Fibroblast Phenotypes in Hormone Therapy–Naïve Localized Prostate Cancer
Apostolov, E., Roden, D. L., Holliday, H., Cazet, A., Harvey, K., Zhang, H., . . . Swarbrick, A. (2026). Cancer Res, 86(8).
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Proteotranscriptomic Dissection of Breast Cancer T Cell States Identifies CD103+ Tfh-derived Cytotoxic Cells Linked to Immunotherapy Response [Preprint]
Al-Eryani, G., Van Der Leij, S., Masle-Farquhar, E., Chan, C. L., Harvey, K., Wu, S. Z., . . . Swarbrick, A. (2026). Res Sq. [Preprint]
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Gene-Expression Profiling to Decipher Breast Cancer Inter-and Intratumor Heterogeneity
Swarbrick, A., Fernandez-Martinez, A., & Perou, C. M. (2024). Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med, 14(1).
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Spatial maps of genetically diverse breast cancer cells
Al-Eryani, G., & Swarbrick, A. (2022). Nature, 611(7936).
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DNA barcoding reveals ongoing immunoediting of clonal cancer populations during metastatic progression and immunotherapy response
Baldwin, L. A., Bartonicek, N., Yang, J., Wu, S. Z., Deng, N., Roden, D. L., . . . Junankar, S. (2022). Nat Commun, 13(1).
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Deep whole genome sequencing identifies recurrent genomic alterations in commonly used breast cancer cell lines and patient-derived xenograft models
Deng, N., Minoche, A., Harvey, K., Li, M., Winkler, J., Goga, A., & Swarbrick, A. (2022). Breast Cancer Res, 24(1).
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Spatial transcriptomics
Anderson, A. C., Yanai, I., Yates, L. R., Wang, L., Swarbrick, A., Sorger, P., . . . Zhou, X. (2022). Cancer Cell, 40(9).
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snPATHO-seq: unlocking the FFPE archives for single nucleus RNA profiling
Wang, T., Roach, M. J., Harvey, K., Morlanes, J. E., Kiedik, B., Al-Eryani, G., . . . Martelotto, L. G. (2024). Commun Biol, 7(1).
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Mapping the cancer cell states conserved across solid tumors
Roden, D., & Swarbrick, A. (2022). Nat Genet, 54(8).
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Integration of single-cell RNA and protein data identifies novel clinically-relevant lymphocyte phenotypes in breast cancers
Al-Eryani, G., Bartonicek, N., Chan, C.-L., Anderson, A., Harvey, K., Wu, S. Z., . . . Swarbrick, A. (2022). bioRxiv. [Preprint]
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miR-99b-5p, miR-380-3p, and miR-485-3p are novel chemosensitizing miRNAs in high-risk neuroblastoma
Holliday, H., Yang, J., Dodson, E., Nikolic, I., Kamili, A., Wheatley, M., . . . Swarbrick, A. (2022). Mol Ther, 30(3).
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Spatial deconvolution of HER2-positive breast cancer delineates tumor-associated cell type interactions
Andersson, A., Larsson, L., Stenbeck, L., Salmén, F., Ehinger, A., Wu, S. Z., . . . Lundeberg, J. (2021). Nat Commun, 12(1).
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A single-cell and spatially resolved atlas of human breast cancers
Wu, S. Z., Al-Eryani, G., Roden, D. L., Junankar, S., Harvey, K., Andersson, A., . . . Swarbrick, A. (2021). Nat Genet, 53(9).
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Cryopreservation of human cancers conserves tumour heterogeneity for single- cell multi-omics analysis
Wu, S. Z., Roden, D. L., Al-Eryani, G., Bartonicek, N., Harvey, K., Cazet, A. S., . . . Swarbrick, A. (2021). Genome Med, 13(1).
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Single-cell advances in stromal-leukocyte interactions in cancer
Wu, S. Z., & Swarbrick, A. (2021). Immunol Rev, 302(1).
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The androgen receptor is a tumor suppressor in estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer
Hickey, T. E., Selth, L. A., Chia, K. M., Laven-Law, G., Milioli, H. H., Roden, D., . . . Tilley, W. D. (2021). Nat Med, 27(2).
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Stromal cell diversity associated with immune evasion in human triple-negative breast cancer
Wu, S. Z., Roden, D. L., Wang, C., Holliday, H., Harvey, K., Cazet, A. S., . . . Swarbrick, A. (2020) The EMBO Journal , 39(19).
Selected recent publications
Chen, J., Zhang, H., Ruan, T., Wu, S.Z., Slapetova, I., Millar, E., Graham, P.H., Lynch, J., Browne, L.H., Lim, E., Swarbrick, A.
Cancer Research Communications, 2026
Apostolov, E., Roden, D. L., Holliday, H., Cazet, A., Harvey, K., Zhang, H., Wu, S. Z., van der Leij, S., Jieun Kim, H., Selth, L. A., Bartonicek, N., Al-Eryani, G., Reeves, J. L., He, M., Lundeberg, J., Potter, A. J., Kench, J. G., Stricker, P. D., Joshua, A. M., Horvath, L. G. and Swarbrick, A.
Cancer Research Communications, 2026
Fernandez, K. J., Sultani, G., Nobis, M., Gloss, B., Eshraghi, L., McCart Reed, A. E., Alexandrou, S., Lee, C., Roden, D. L., Jones, E. I., Simad, M. H., Millar, E. K. A., Bartonicek, N., Oakes, S. R., Valdes-Mora, F., Colino-Sanguino, Y., Mok, E. T. Y., Williams, H. L., Kutasovic, J. R., Cummings, M. C., Stoehr, J., Lee, V., Harvey, K., Wu, S., Lakhani, S. R., Simpson, P. T., Cox, T. R., Ooms, L. M., Mitchell, C. A., Salomon, R., Swarbrick, A., Gallego-Ortega, D., Lim, E., Timpson, P. and Caldon, C. E.
Nature Communications, 2026
Al-Eryani, G., Van Der Leij, S., Masle-Farquhar, E., Chan, C.L., Harvey, K., Wu, S.Z., Roden, D., Wang, T., Reeves, J., Yeung, B.Z., Goodnow, C.C., Ma, C.S., Perou, C.M., Hacohen, N., Al'Khafaji, A.M., Nilsson, M., Lundeberg, J., Batten, M., Junankar, S., Swarbrick A.
Research Square, 2026 [Preprint]
Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, 2024
Swarbrick A*., Fernandez-Martinez A., Perou C.M. (*Corresponding author)
Communications Biology, 2024
Swarbrick A*., Fernandez-Martinez A., Perou C.M. (*Corresponding author)
Nature Genetics, 2021
Baldwin L.A., Bartonicek N., Yang J., Wu S.Z., Deng N., Roden D.L., Chan C.-L., Al-Eryani G., Zanker D.J., Parker B.S., Swarbrick A., Junankar S.
This paper shows that clonal diversity within cancers can contribute to immune evasion, during metastatic progression and during the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors
Nature Genetics, 2022
Roden D., Swarbrick A.
Breast Cancer Research, 2022
Deng N., Minoche A., Harvey K., Li M., Winkler J., Goga A., Swarbrick A.
Holliday H., Yang J., Dodson E., Nikolic I., Kamili A., Wheatley M., Deng N., Alexandrou S., Davis T.P., Kavallaris M., Caldon C.E., McCarroll J., De Preter K., Mestdagh P., Marshall G.M., Simpson K.J., Fletcher J., Swarbrick A.
Molecular Therapy, 2022
Nature Communications, 2021
Andersson A., Larsson L., Stenbeck L., Salmén F., Ehinger A., Wu S.Z., Al-Eryani G., Roden D., Swarbrick A., Borg Å., Frisén J., Engblom C., Lundeberg J.
Wu S.Z., Al-Eryani G., Roden D.L., Junankar S., Harvey K., Andersson A., Thennavan A., Wang C., Torpy J.R., Bartonicek N., Wang T., Larsson L., Kaczorowski D., Weisenfeld N.I., Uytingco C.R., Chew J.G., Bent Z.W., Chan C.-L., Gnanasambandapillai V., Dutertre C.-A., Gluch L., Hui M.N., Beith J., Parker A., Robbins E., Segara D., Cooper C., Mak C., Chan B., Warrier S., Ginhoux F., Millar E., Powell J.E., Williams S.R., Liu X.S., O’Toole S., Lim E., Lundeberg J., Perou C.M., Swarbrick A.
Nature Genetics, 2021
This study maps the cellular landscape of primary breast cancers, focussing primarily on cellular states. We define a detailed cellular taxonomy of up to 52 states across epithelial, stromal & immune cells & develop a new single-cell classifier of intrinsic subtype, ‘scSubtyper’ (provisional patent application filed). Using spatial transcriptomics we map these cells into cellular communities, revealing the important spatial relationships between certain subsets of stromal cells & lymphocytes, which we are now pursuing as therapeutic targets. Finally, we reveal that breast cancers can be stratified into clinically-meaningful groups based on their cellular composition, a concept we coin ‘ecotypes’ (provisional patent application filed). This is a landmark paper in breast cancer research.
Hickey T.E., Selth L.A., Chia K.M., Laven-Law G., Milioli H.H., Roden D., Jindal S., Hui M., Finlay-Schultz J., Ebrahimie E., Birrell S.N., Stelloo S., Iggo R., Alexandrou S., Caldon C.E., Abdel-Fatah T.M., Ellis I.O., Zwart W., Palmieri C., Sartorius C.A., Swarbrick A., Lim E., Carroll J.S., Tilley W.D.
Nature Medicine, 2021
This paradigm-changing paper showed that the Androgen Receptor is a tumour suppressor in ER+ BrCa (~ 70% of BrCa). Androgen agonists provide a powerful new tool in the therapeutic armoury. Fundamentally changes our understanding of breast cancer biology
This work was used to design a successful Phase 2 (NCT02463032) which led to fast-track designation from the FDA( https://bit.ly/3tffYLY) for androgens in ER+ metastatic breast cancer. A Phase 3 (NCT04869943) clinical trial also followed and is underway.
This work was accompanied by a commentary in the same issue of Nature Medicine.
- Caswell-Jin JL et al “Androgen receptor agonists as breast cancer therapeutics” Nature Medicine 2021
Immunological Reviews, 2021
Wu S.Z., Swarbrick A.
Bergholtz H., Carter J.M., Cesano A., Cheang M.C.U., Church S.E., Divakar P., Fuhrman C.A., Goel S., Gong J., Guerriero J.L., Hoang M.L., Hwang E.S., Kuasne H., Lee J., Liang Y., Mittendorf E.A., Perez J., Prat A., Pusztai L., Reeves J.W., Riazalhosseini Y., Richer J.K., Sahin Ö., Sato H., Schlam I., Sørlie T., Stover D.G., Swain S.M., Swarbrick A., Thompson E.A., Tolaney S.M., Warren S.E., GeoMx Breast Cancer Consortium
Cancers, 2021
Chew N.J., Lim Kam Sian T.C.C., Nguyen E.V., Shin S.-Y., Yang J., Hui M.N., Deng N., McLean C.A., Welm A.L., Lim E., Gregory P., Nottle T., Lang T., Vereker M., Richardson G., Kerr G., Micati D., Jardé T., Abud H.E., Lee R.S., Swarbrick A., Daly R.J.
Breast Cancer Research, 2021
Wu S.Z., Roden D.L., Al-Eryani G., Bartonicek N., Harvey K., Cazet A.S., Chan C.-L., Junankar S., Hui M.N., Millar E.A., Beretov J., Horvath L., Joshua A.M., Stricker P., Wilmott J.S., Quek C., Long G.V., Scolyer R.A., Yeung B.Z., Segara D., Mak C., Warrier S., Powell J.E., O’Toole S., Lim E., Swarbrick A.
Genome Medicine, 2021
Holliday H., Roden D., Junankar S., Wu S.Z., Baker L.A., Krisp C., Chan C.-L., McFarland A., Skhinas J.N., Cox T.R., Pal B., Huntington N.D., Ormandy C.J., Carroll J.S., Visvader J., Molloy M.P., Swarbrick A.
iScience, 2021
Baker L.A., Baker L.A., Holliday H., Holliday H., Roden D., Roden D., Krisp C., Krisp C., Wu S.Z., Junankar S., Junankar S., Serandour A.A., Mohammed H., Nair R., Sankaranarayanan G., Law A.M.K., Law A.M.K., McFarland A., Simpson P.T., Lakhani S., Dodson E., Dodson E., Selinger C., Anderson L., Anderson L., Samimi G., Hacker N.F., Lim E., Ormandy C.J., Ormandy C.J., Naylor M.J., Simpson K., Nikolic I., O'Toole S., O'Toole S., O'Toole S., O'Toole S., Kaplan W., Cowley M.J., Carroll J.S., Molloy M., Swarbrick A.
Breast Cancer Research, 2020
Wu S.Z., Roden D.L., Wang C., Holliday H., Harvey K., Cazet A.S., Murphy K.J., Pereira B., Al-Eryani G., Bartonicek N., Hou R., Torpy J.R., Junankar S., Chan C.-L., Lam C.E., Hui M.N., Gluch L., Beith J., Parker A., Robbins E., Segara D., Mak C., Cooper C., Warrier S., Forrest A., Powell J., O'Toole S., Cox T.R., Timpson P., Lim E., Liu X.S., Swarbrick A.
EMBO Journal, 2020
Featured on the journal cover and in a news and views article by Kalluri et al “A map of human breast cancer: new players in stromal-immune crosstalk” EMBO J 2020.
This was the first study to report a comprehensive cellular profile of triple negative breast cancer, a particularly poor-prognosis subset. We discovered novel subsets of stromal cells and inferred a role for them in suppressing anti-tumor immunity.
Singh, M., Al-Eryani, G., Carswell, S., Ferguson, J.M., Blackburn, J., Barton, K., Roden, D., Luciani, F., Giang Phan, T., Junankar, S., Jackson, K., Goodnow, C.C., Smith, M.A., Swarbrick, A.
Nature Communications, 2019
We solved a technical challenge of how to affordably and rapidly profile gene expression in tandem with full-length single molecule mRNA sequencing from thousands of cells. We developed this method to permit deep profiling of lymphocyte gene expression and receptor expression. We use it to show clonal expansion and trafficking of lymphocytes from the lymph node to tumour, and unique gene expression features of clonal populations. We are now extending this method to enable very deep cellular characterisation of molecular features such as splicing, recombination, mutations and gene fusions in cancer cell populations.
Cazet, A.S., Hui, M.N., Elsworth, B.L., Wu, S.Z., Roden, D., Chan, C.L., Skhinas, J.N., Collot, R., Yang, J., Harvey, K., Johan, M.Z., Cooper, C., Nair, R., Herrmann, D., McFarland, A., Deng, N., Ruiz-Borrego, M., Rojo, F., Trigo, J.M., Bezares, S., Caballero, R., Lim, E., Timpson, P., O'Toole, S., Watkins, D.N., Cox, T.R., Samuel, M.S., Martin, M., Swarbrick, A.
Nature Communications, 2018
This manuscript is a key demonstration of the influence of the tumour microenvironment in driving cancer cell plasticity during drug treatment. Fundamental discoveries and preclinical modeling by my lab drove the development of a Phase I trial of an anti-neoplastic (docetaxel) + an anti-stromal (smoothened/hedgehog inhibitor) combination therapy for metastatic TNBC, in which 3/11 women experienced clinical benefit, including one complete response. While small patient numbers, this is early evidence for clinical response to a stromal-directed therapy. Larger clinical trials are in development.