Whispers in the Lungs: Small Extracellular Vesicles in Lung Cancer and COPD Crosstalk
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Institute of Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Department of Immunology, College of Medicine and Health Science, University of Gondar, Gondar P.O. Box 196, Ethiopia
3
College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar P.O. Box 79, Ethiopia
4
Clinical and Translational Research Unit, School of Medicine, Stanford University, 800 Welch Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Cancers 2025, 17(10), 1612; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17101612
Submission received: 7 April 2025
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Revised: 3 May 2025
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Accepted: 7 May 2025
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Published: 9 May 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in “Cancer Biomarkers” for 2025–2026)
Simple Summary
Lung cancer is a very serious disease, and it becomes worse when combined with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD], another chronic lung illness. Both are linked to smoking and long-term lung inflammation. Scientists are now focusing on tiny particles called small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), which are released by cells and carry important molecules. In lung cancer, sEVs often carry cancer-related signals, while in COPD, they carry inflammation-related ones. These signals could help doctors to diagnose and monitor the diseases more accurately. However, collecting and studying sEVs is still difficult, which limits their use in clinics. This review looks at the potential of sEVs as helpful tools in treating lung cancer and COPD and highlights the need for more research.
Abstract
Lung cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. Its prognosis becomes even worse when it co-occurs with other diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Both illnesses have numerous shared risk factors, including the use of tobacco smoke, and have similar underlying mechanisms like long-term inflammation. There are some other less studied but equally important molecules, like small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), that have been shown to mediate effective communication at the cellular level and may affect the progression of a disease or cause resistance to therapies. In sEVs from lung cancer tumors, there are onco-proteins (e.g., tumor initiator EGFR mutations, onco-miR, miR-21), while in sEVs from patients with COPD, there are pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-6 and TNF-α that enhance airway inflammation. These potential biomarkers of sEVs from chronic lung disease have great value in defense against emerging health problems; however, limitations in sample extraction and analysis are obstacles that hinder clinical enhanced applicability. This review focuses on sEV-derived biomarkers in lung cancer and COPD for diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic monitoring purposes. To make these molecules more useful in real-life therapy and determine their signature’s role, further investigation with a high-scale study is necessary.
Keywords:
small extracellular vesicles; lung cancer; COPD; biomarkers
