Fig. 1
EVs and autophagic CTCs as biomarkers in patients with advanced NSCLC: A The Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) of EVs from NSCLC plasma samples revealed a concentration of 2.30 × 109 ± 3.25 × 108 particles/ml with a diameter of mode 126.4 ± 8.5 nm. B The Transmission-Electron Microscopy (TEM) showed double-membrane EVs of ≈ 150 nm diameter. C Western Blot images from NSCLC plasma EVs and lung cancer cell lines depicted positive expression of the EV markers CD9 and Flotillin-1 while lower expression of GM-130. D Representative images from CTCs: The upper row shows a CTC with high LC3B expression partially surrounded by non-tumor blood cells. Lower row depicts a CTC with low LC3B. Nuclei were dyed with DAPI and images were taken with the Zeiss LSM 710 confocal/multiphoton laser scanning microscope at 63x magnification. E (N = 26) Responders showed higher baseline expression of EV miR-375, 200c, and 30c than non-responders. F ROC curves for the combined and individual EV miRNAs. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01. G Low levels of miR-30c at baseline (1) identified patients with shorter RFS vs. high levels (p = 0.002). Patients with baseline autophagic-activated CTCs showed shorter RFS than those with no presence (p = 0.041). Low levels of baseline miR-30c also identified patients with worse OS (p = 0.028). Autophagic-activated CTCs (1) were not associated with OS