To understand if the treatment with Doxo induced ROS release and its was responsible for CMA activation, we have analysed the level of two key genes of redox-homeostasis, glutathione and superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD-1) as representative genes involved in the oxidative defect’s rearrangement, both in breast cancer tissues and cell cultures (Additional file 1: Fig. S2). The gene discussed is SOD1; the disease is breast cancer.