Fig. 4

Specific gene expression changes in the MCF7 PDSs drug fingerprint are linked to original cancer characteristics. A, C Bubble plots representing the association between changes in gene expression in treated patient-derived scaffolds (PDSs) with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) (A) or doxorubicin (DOX) (C) and clinico-pathological data of the original cancer (LN Met—lymph node metastases, PR—progesteron receptor status, ER—estrogen receptor status). The circle size represents the level of significance (P-value) and the circle color indicates the clinical variable (y axis) that was associated with higher gene expression levels in PDSs (x axis). For detailed information, see Additional file 2: Table S6 and Additional file 1: Fig. S2 and S3. B, D Kaplan–Meier plots displaying the relationship between disease-free survival (DFS; blue, low expression; red, high expression) and CD44 and ALDH1A3 drug fingerprints after 5-FU treatment (B) or CD44, MALAT1, CCNA2 and ERBB2 drug fingerprints after DOX treatment (D). P < 0.05, log-rank (detailed information in Additional file 2: Table S8)