Table 3. Clinical characteristics with respect to whether patients had detectable CTCs before surgery (cut-off =1).
| Clinical characteristics | CTC <1 (n=42) | CTC ≥1 (n=138) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex, n (%) | 0.243 | ||
| Male | 30 (71.4) | 93 (67.4) | |
| Female | 12 (28.6) | 45 (32.6) | |
| Age, years, mean (95% CI) | 65.6 (62.9–68.3) | 66.4 (64.9–67.9) | 0.966 |
| SUVmax, mean (95% CI) | 10.1 (7.5–12.7) | 8.8 (7.8–9.9) | |
| Stage, n (%) | 0.800 | ||
| IA | 14 (33.3) | 38 (27.5) | |
| IB | 9 (21.4) | 35 (25.4) | |
| IIA | 6 (14.3) | 15 (10.9) | |
| IIB | 5 (11.9) | 14 (10.1) | |
| IIIA | 8 (19.0) | 36 (26.1) | |
| Histology, n (%) | 0.742 | ||
| Adenocarcinoma | 21 (50.0) | 78 (56.5) | |
| Squamous cell | 16 (38.1) | 47 (34.1) | |
| Other histologies | 5 (11.9) | 13 (9.4) | |
| Relapse, n (%) | 10 (23.8) | 44 (31.9) | 0.487 |
| Pattern of relapse, n (%) | 0.780 | ||
| Multiple | 3 (42.9) | 11 (45.9) | |
| Oligometastatic | 4 (57.1) | 13 (54.1) |
CTCs, circulating tumor cells; SUVmax, maximum standardized uptake value.