Table 3. Disease control rates (DCR) and clinical characteristics of 59 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma receiving sorafenib monotherapy.

Variable	Patients (n)					DCR(%)	P
	Total	CR	PR	SD	PD
Sex
Male	44	1	9	10	24	45.5	0.201
Female	15	0	2	2	11	26.7
Age, y
> 50	40	1	8	10	21	47.5	0.122
≤ 50	19	0	3	2	14	26.3
HBV
Positive	50	1	10	10	29	42.0	0.626
Negative	9	0	1	2	6	33.3
Maximum tumor size, cm
> 3	34	1	7	6	20	41.2	0.928
≤ 3	25	0	4	6	15	40.0
AFP level, ng/mL
< 400	37	1	9	6	21	43.2	0.603
≥ 400	22	0	2	6	14	36.4
ECOG PS
0	14	0	3	5	6	57.1	0.151
1 or 2	45	1	8	7	29	35.6
Child–Pugh class
A	42	1	8	10	23	45.2	0.262
B	17	0	3	2	12	29.4
Portal vein thrombus
Positive	48	1	8	9	30	37.5	0.299
Negative	11	0	3	3	5	54.5
TNM staging
III	46	1	9	11	25	45.7	0.143
IV	13	0	2	1	10	23.1
Number of CTCs
≤ 53a	31	1	8	7	15	51.6	0.072
> 53	28	0	3	5	20	28.6
pERK+/pAkt+ CTCs
Present	8	0	1	2	5	37.5	0.844
Absent	51	1	10	10	30	41.2
pERK+/pAkt− CTCs
Present	15	1	7	3	4	73.3	0.003
Absent	44	0	4	9	31	29.5
pERK−/pAkt+ CTCs
Present	40	0	4	9	27	32.5	0.064
Absent	19	1	7	3	8	57.9
pERK−/pAkt− CTCs
Present	44	0	7	11	26	40.9	0.951
Absent	15	1	4	1	9	40.0

Abbreviations: AFP, alpha-fetoprotein; CR, complete response; CTC, circulating tumor cell; HBV, hepatitis B virus; PD, progressive disease; PR, partial response; PS, performance status; SD, stable disease; TNM, tumor-node-metastasis stage.

Note:

^a53 was the median number of CTCs detected in 59 HCC patients.