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. 2017 Apr 19;7:905. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-01066-y

Table 1.

Characteristics of studies included in this meta-analysis.

Study Country Patient number Sampling time Median follow-up (months) Disease stage Cancer type Detection method Blood volume (mL)a RT-PCR marker Detection rate, % (n/N)b Cut-off of CTC-positive Diagnostic specificity, % (n/N)c Outcomes HR estimation Multivariate adjustment
Hardingham11 Australia 94 Preoperative 14.8 Dukes’A-C CRC RT-PCR 10 CK19, CK20, MUC1, MUC2 20 (19/94) — 100 (18/18) OS Reported No
31 Preoperative 14.8 Dukes’s C CRC RT-PCR 10 CK19, CK20, MUC1, MUC2 42 (13/31) — 100 (18/18) OS Reported No
Bessa20 Spain 32 Preoperative 42 TNM II CRC RT-PCR 20 CEA 38 (12/32) — NR DFS Extrapolated No
27 Preoperative 42 TNM III CRC RT-PCR 20 CEA 41 (11/27) — NR DFS Extrapolated No
Ito21 Japan 99 Postoperative NR TNM I-III CRC RT-PCR 5–7 CEA 26 (26/99) — 100 (20/20) DFS Extrapolated No
Bessa22 Spain 66 Postoperative 36 TNM I-III CRC RT-PCR 20 CEA 55 (36/66) — NR RFS; OS Extrapolated No
24 Postoperative 36 TNM III CRC RT-PCR 20 CEA 58 (14/24) — NR RFS Extrapolated No
Sadahiro23 Japan 99 During surgery 59 TNM I-III CRC RT-PCR NR CEA 39 (39/99) — NR RFS Reported Yes
Douard24 France 89 Preoperative NR TNM I-III CRC RT-PCR 10 CGM2 44 (39/89) — NR RFS Extrapolated No
Koch12 Germany 82 Postoperative 58 TNM II CRC RT-PCR 10 CK20 34 (28/82) — 100 (98/98) RFS; CRS Reported Yes
Allen-Mersh13 UK 113 Postoperative 46.4 Dukes’A-C CRC RT-PCR 14 CEA/CK20 30 (34/113) — 98 (199/203) RFS Reported Yes
Sadahiro29 Japan 200 Postoperative 52 TNM I-III CRC RT-PCR NR CEA 22 (44/200) — NR DFS; OS Reported Yes
Koyanagi14 USA 34 Preoperative 34 TNM I-III CRC RT-PCR 9 c-MET, MAGE-A3, GalNAc-T, CK20 47 (16/34) — 100 (47/47) OS Reported Yes
Uen15 China 438 Preoperative and postoperative 44 TNM I-III CRC RT-PCR 4 hTERT, CK19, CK20, CEA 31 (137/438) — NR RFS Reported Yes
287 Preoperative and postoperative 44 TNM I-III Colon cancer RT-PCR 4 hTERT, CK19, CK20, CEA 32 (92/287) — NR RFS Extrapolated No
151 Preoperative and postoperative 44 TNM I-III Rectal cancer RT-PCR 4 hTERT, CK19, CK20, CEA 30 (45/151) — NR RFS Extrapolated No
Iinuma (training)16 Japan 420 Preoperative NR Dukes’B-C CRC RT-PCR 10 CEA, CK19, CK20, CD133 25 (106/420) — NR DFS; OS Reported Yes
176 Preoperative NR Dukes’B CRC RT-PCR 10 CEA, CK19, CK20, CD133 23 (41/176) — NR DFS; OS Reported Yes
150 Preoperative NR Dukes’C CRC RT-PCR 10 CEA, CK19, CK20, CD133 38 (57/150) — NR DFS; OS Reported Yes
268 Preoperative NR Dukes’B-C Colon cancer RT-PCR 10 CEA, CK19, CK20, CD133 26 (69/268) — NR DFS; OS Extrapolated No
152 Preoperative NR Dukes’B-C Rectal cancer RT-PCR 10 CEA, CK19, CK20, CD133 24 (37/152) — NR DFS; OS Extrapolated No
Iinuma (validation)16 Japan 315 Preoperative NR Dukes’B-C CRC RT-PCR 10 CEA, CK19, CK20, CD133 24 (75/315) — NR DFS; OS Reported Yes
143 Preoperative NR Dukes’B CRC RT-PCR 10 CEA, CK19, CK20, CD133 22 (32/143) — NR DFS; OS Reported Yes
97 Preoperative NR Dukes’C CRC RT-PCR 10 CEA, CK19, CK20, CD133 36 (35/97) — NR DFS; OS Reported Yes
203 Preoperative NR Dukes’B-C Colon cancer RT-PCR 10 CEA, CK19, CK20, CD133 23 (46/203) — NR DFS; OS Extrapolated No
112 Preoperative NR Dukes’B-C Rectal cancer RT-PCR 10 CEA, CK19, CK20, CD133 25 (28/112) — NR DFS; OS Extrapolated No
Lu17 China 141 Postoperative 40 TNM II-III Colon cancer RT-PCR 4 hTERT, CK19, CK20, CEA 36 (51/141) — NR RFS; OS Reported for RFS; Extrapolated for OS Yes for RFS; No for OS
Deneve 25 France 60 Preoperative 36 M0 CRC Epispot 10–20 CK19 12 (7/60) 27 CTCs/10–20 mL 100 (20/20) CRS Extrapolated No
Lu30 d China 90 Postoperative 36 TNM III Colon cancer RT-PCR 4 hTERT, CK19, CK20, CEA 23 (21/90) — NR DFS; OS Reported Yes
Bork18 Germany 239 Preoperative 28 TNM I-III CRC CellSearch 7.5 — 8.8 (21/239) 1 CTC/7.5 mL NR PFS; OS Reported Yes
Sotelo26 Spain 472 Postoperative 40 TNM III CRC CellSearch 7.5 — 35 (166/472) 1 CTC/7.5 mL NR DFS; OS Reported Yes
van Dalum28 Netherlands 183 Preoperative 61 TNM I-III CRC CellSearch 7.5 — 24 (44/183) 1 CTC/30 mL NR RFS; CCRD Reported Yes
146 Postoperative 61 TNM I-III CRC CellSearch 7.5 — 20 (29/146) 1 CTC/30 mL NR CCRD Extrapolated No
Kust27 Croatia 82 Preoperative 50 TNM I-III CRC RT-PCR 10 CK20 73 (60/82) — 70 (16/23) RFS; OS Extrapolated No
82 Postoperative 50 TNM I-III CRC RT-PCR 10 CK20 74 (61/82) — 70 (16/23) RFS; OS Extrapolated No
Tsai19 China 84 Preoperative NR TNM I-III CRC CMx platform 2 CK20 43 (36/84) 5 CTCs/2 mL 100 (27/27) DFS Reported Yes

Abbreviations: NR, not reported; M0, non-metastasis; M1, metastasis; RT-PCR, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; OS, overall survival; DFS, disease-free survival; RFS, recurrence-free survival; CRS, cancer-related survival; CCRD, colon cancer related death.

aIt referred to the sample blood volume used for CTC isolation in each study.

bIt referred to the number of CTC-positive patients (n) per total number of patients (N) included in each study.

cIt referred to the number of CTC-negative subjects (n) per total number of healthy controls (N) included in each study.

dThe study of Lu (2013) was removed in the overall analysis because it had overlapping cases with the study of Lu (2011), but it was included in the subgroup analysis based on cancer type.