In a prospective trial of 30 NSCLC patients that underwent curative lung surgery, we demonstrated that PD-L1 and EMT markers vimentin and N-Cadherin are upregulated in CTCs in comparison to tumor tissue, and that ≥3 PD-L1pos/EMTposCTCs in 7.5 mL blood drawn before curative surgery are associated with poor overall survival. Here, VIM is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.