Table 2.
Prevalence of circulating tumor cells and association with clinical features (n = 23)*.
| Variable | Patients with CTCs in PPB | Patients with CTCs in IPVB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| >5 (n = 10) | ≤5 (n = 13) | >50 (n = 6) | ≤50 (n = 17) | |
| Sex | ||||
| Male (n = 15) | 6 | 9 | 4 | 11 |
| Female (n = 8) | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Fisher’s exact P | 0.685 | >0.99 | ||
| Pathological type | ||||
| Squamous carcinoma (n = 12) | 3 | 9 | 1 | 11 |
| Adenocarcinoma (n = 11) | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Fisher’s exact P | 0.100 | 0.069 | ||
| Pathological stage | ||||
| I (n = 8) | 1 | 7 | 1 | 7 |
| II (n = 7) | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| IIIA (n = 8) | 8 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Pearson Chi-square P | 0.000 | 0.013 | ||
| T stage | ||||
| 1 (5) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 (12) | 6 | 6 | 4 | 8 |
| 3 (3) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 (3) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Pearson Chi-square P | 0.057 | 0.126 | ||
| N stage | ||||
| N0 (17) | 4 | 13 | 2 | 15 |
| N1-N3 (6) | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Fisher’s exact P | 0.002 | 0.021 | ||
| Smoking index | ||||
| ≥400(n = 13) | 5 | 8 | 3 | 10 |
| <400(n = 10) | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 |
| Mcnemar test P | 0.686 | >0.99 | ||
| Disease status† | ||||
| Progress (n = 10) | 8 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| Stable (n = 13) | 2 | 11 | 0 | 13 |
| Fisher’s exact P | 0.003 | 0.002 | ||
*CTCs circulating tumor cells, PPB preoperative peripheral blood, IPVB-CTCs intraoperative pulmonary venous blood.
†Progression was defined according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. It meant metastases and recurrence occurring after surgical resection.