Table 2.

CTCs and disease-related characteristics

Characteristics	Number	TCTCs	ECTCs	EMCTCs	MCTCs
Pathologic type
Adenocarcinoma	26	5.5 (1.75, 12.25)	0.5 (0, 2)	4 (0, 8.25)	0 (0, 1.25)
Adenosquamous	3	8 (2, 10)	1 (0, 1)	6 (1, 8)	0 (0, 3)
Location
Right lung	19	7 (1, 8)	0 (0, 1)	2 (0, 8)	0 (0, 1)
Left lung	12	5.5 (3.25, 13)	1 (0, 3.5)	4.5 (0.75, 9.75)	0 (0, 2.75)
Tumor stage
III	5	1 (0, 7)	0 (0, 0)*	1 (0, 7)	0 (0, 0)
IV	24	7 (3, 12.75)	1 (0, 2)*	4 (1, 8.75)	0 (0, 2)
T
1	2	4 (1, 7)	3 (1, 5)	1 (0, 2)	0 (0, 0)
2	2	6.5 (3, 10)	0.5 (0, 1)	4 (2, 6)	2 (1, 3)
3	5	2 (0, 27)	0 (0, 16)	1 (0, 10)	0 (0, 1.5)
4	20	7.5 (3.25, 12.75)	0.5 (0, 2)	4.5 (1, 8.75)	0 (0, 1.75)
M
M0	5	1 (0, 7)	0 (0, 0)*	1 (0, 7)	0 (0, 0)
M1a	2	6.5 (0, 13)	0 (0, 0)*	5.5 (0, 11)	1 (0, 2)
M1b	/	/	/	/	/
M1c	22	7 (3, 12.5)	1 (0, 2.5)*	4 (1, 8.25)	0 (0, 2.25)
N
N0	2	3.5 (0, 7)	1 (0, 2)*	2 (0, 4)	0.5 (0, 1)
N1	0	/	/	/	/
N2	10	3.5 (0, 8.5)	0 (0, 0.25)*	3 (0, 6.5)	0 (0, 3.25)
N3	17	7 (3.5, 13.5)	1 (0, 4.5)*	6 (1, 11)	0 (1, 1.5)

Notes:

^*P<0.05; statistical description: median (figures outside the parentheses) and interquartile range (figures in the parentheses).

Abbreviations: CTCs, circulating tumor cells; ECTCs, epithelial circulating tumor cells; EMCTCs, epithelial–mesenchymal circulating tumor cells; MCTCs, mesenchymal circulating tumor cells; TCTCs, total CTCs.