Table 3. Outcome according to CTC and M30-positive CTC count and ΔAUC.

	n	CTC a	P valueb	1° Cycle CTC a	P valuec	M30+ d	P valueb	1° Cycle M30+ d	P valuec	ΔAUCe	P valueb	ΔAUC ⩽0	ΔAUC >0	P valuef	TTP (days) g	P valueb
Non-progressed	26	0.5	0.069	0.5	0.284	0.0	0.061	0.5	0.304	−86.00	0.010
Progressed	17	2.0		1.0	0.426	1.0		1.0	0.791	−5.50
Outcome according to categorised ΔAUC
Non-progressed	26											25	1	0.004
Progressed	17											10	7
Sites of disease relapse according to ΔAUC
Locally heightened invasion	6									−24.00	0.050	6	0	0.017	131	0.802
Distant metastasis	11									34.50		4	7		107

Abbreviations: AUC=area under the curve; CTC=circulating tumour cells.

^aMedian values of total CTC/7.5 ml.

^bNon-progressed vs progressed, locally vs Distant comparison by Mann–Whitney test.

^cBefore and after 1° cycle comparison by Wilcoxon paired test.

^dMedian values of M30-positive CTC/7.5 ml.

^eLive/apoptotic CTC balance over the follow-up period.

^fFisher's exact test (two tail).

^gMedian number of days to progression. P-value of dichotomized data are provided in italic.