Table 1.
Characteristics of donor groups enrolled into the study
| Group/parameter | Healthy control | Cancer patients (all cases) | Patients with locally advanced cancer | Patients with metastatic cancer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No spread | Spread | ||||
| Number (n) | 50 | 53 | 19 | 16 | 18 |
| Sex (M/F) | 30/20 | 37/16 | 12/7 | 13/3 | 12/6 |
| Age (years) | 28–60 (median 50) | 34–74 (median 59) | 36–70 (median 59) | 34–73 (median 58) | 35–74 (median 60) |
| Tumor location | |||||
| Upper third | – | 15 (28 %) | 3 (16 %) | 6 (37 %) | 6 (33 %) |
| Middle third | – | 31 (59 %) | 13 (68 %) | 9 (57 %) | 9 (50 %) |
| Lower third | – | 7 (13 %) | 3 (16 %) | 1 (6 %) | 3 (17 %) |
| Histological grade | |||||
| G1–G2 | – | 16 (30 %) | 10 (53 %) | 3 (19 %) | 3 (17 %) |
| G3 | – | 29 (55 %) | 8 (42 %) | 11 (69 %) | 10 (56 %) |
| Not specified | – | 8 (15 %) | 1 (5 %) | 2 (12 %) | 5 (27 %) |
| Primary tumor | |||||
| cT1–T3 | – | 50 (94 %) | 19 (100 %) | 16 (100 %) | 15 (83 %) |
| cT4 | – | 3 (6 %) | 0 (0 %) | 0 (0 %) | 3 (17 %) |
| Lymph node | |||||
| cN0 | – | 20 (38 %) | 13 (68 %) | 5 (31 %) | 2 (11 %) |
| cN1–N3 | – | 33 (62 %) | 6 (32 %) | 11 (69 %) | 16 (89 %) |
| Metastasis (initial) | |||||
| cM0 | – | 35 (66 %) | 19 (100 %) | 16 (100 %) | 0 (0 %) |
| cM1 | – | 18 (34 %) | 0 (0 %) | 0 (0 %) | 18 (100 %) |
Group of patients with locally advanced cancer at time of diagnosis were further split into subgroup where either no spread (control) or consecutive cancer dissemination/spread (distant metastasis) was detected