Table 1. Characteristics and design variables of the including studies.
| Author | country | No. of patients | Age | Histological features | Treatment | Sampling volume | Methods | Markers | Sampling time | Cutoff of CTC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chen TF et al | China | 67 | 62(40-75) | ADC 32 SQC 32 Others 3 | chemo. and radio. | 8ml | RT-PCR | CK19 mRNA | pre and post | NR |
| Hiltermann TJ et al | Holland | 59 | 64(47-84) | SCLC 59 | chemo. and radio. | 7.5ml | Cellsearch | EpCAM,CK8,18,19,DAPI | pre and post | 2 CTCs |
| Hofman V et al | NR | 208 | 63(37-84) | ADC 115 SQC 54 Others 39 | surg. | 10ml | ISET | NR | pre | 50 |
| Hou JM et al | UK | 97 | 68(28-84) | SCLC 97 | chemo. | 7.5ml | Cellsearch, ISET | EpCAM,CK8,18,19,DAPI | pre and post | 50 CTCs |
| Igawa S et al | Japan | 30 | 69(51-85) | SCLC 30 | chemo. | 7.5ml | IF | GFP | pre and post | 2 CTCs |
| Krebs MG et al | UK | 101 | 67(43-84) | ADC 31 SQC 32 Other 38 | chemo. and radio. | 7.5ml | Cellsearch | EpCAM,CK8,18,19,DAPI | pre and post | 2 CTCs |
| Naito T et al | Japan | 51 | 67(34-92) | SCLC 51 | chemo. or radio. | 7.5ml | Cellsearch | EpCAM,CK8,18,19,DAPI | pre | 8 CTCs |
| Nieva J et al | America | 28 | 64(31-82) | ADC 21 SQC 5 Others 2 | chemo. or biotherapy | NR | IF | CK 1,4–8,10,13,18,19, DAPI | pre | 1CTC |
| Shi WJ et al | China | 55 | 59(41-75) | SCLC 55 | chemo. | 10ml | RTQ-PCR | CK19 mRNA | pre and post | 3.8 |
| Yamashita J et al | Japan | 103 | 68(35-83) | ADC 66 SQC 37 | surg. | NR | RT-PCR | CEA mRNA | pre and post | NR |
| Yie SM et al | China | 143 | 57(30-84) | ADC 87 SQC 56 | surg. or chemo. | 2ml | RT-PCR | Survivin mRNA | pre | 1.02pg/ml |
| Yoon SO et al | Korea | 79 | 66(42-87) | ADC 45 SQC 27 Others 7 | surg. | NR | RT-PCR | TTF-1,CK19 mRNA | pre and post | NR |
| Juan O et al | Spain | 37 | 71(44-85) | ADC 14 SQC 14 Others 9 | chemo. | 7.5ml | Cellsearch | EpCAM,CK8,18,19,DAPI | pre and post | 2 CTCs |
| Sher YP et al | China | 54 | 65(28-81) | ADC 35 SQC 14 Others 5 | surg. or chemo. | 3-4ml | RT-PCR | keratin 19, Ubiquitin thiolesterase C, HSFIB1 | pre | NR |
| Bayarri-Lara C et al | Spain | 56 | 67.4(45-80) | ADC 25 SQC 29 Others 2 | surg. | 10ml | IF | EGFR,CK | pre and post | NR |
| Chen X et al | China | 169 | NR | ADC 112 SQC 51 Others 6 | NR | 7.5ml | Cellsearch | EpCAM,CK8,18,19,DAPI | pre | 1CTC |
| Hirose T et al | Japan | 33 | 64(46-74) | ADC 24 SQC 8 Others 1 | chemo. | 7.5ml | Cellsearch | EpCAM,CK8,18,19,DAPI | pre | 1CTC |
| Ji JL et al | China | 56 | 68(38-80) | NSCLC | surg. | 2ml | ICC | EpCAM | post | 1CTC |
| Lou JT et al | China | 33 | 58(33-76) | ADC 16 SQC 11 Others 6 | chemo. | 3ml | LT-PCR | CK,FR,DAPI | pre | 8.5 |
| Peck K et al | China | 86 | 66(26-82) | ADC 47 SQC 17 SCLC 15 Others 7 | surg. or chemo. or radio. | 3-5ml | RT-PCR | CK19 mRNA | pre | NR |
| Sheu CC et al | China | 100 | 64(37-87) | ADC 72 SQC 28 | NR | 5ml | RT-PCR | 17genes | pre | NR |
| Wang B et al | China | 42 | 68(37-80) | ADC 25 SQC 17 | surg. | 10ml | ICC | EpCAM | post | 1CTC |
| Wu C et al | China | 47 | NR | ADC 27 SQC 7 SCLC 13 | chemo. | 7.5ml | IF | CK18,19,DAPI | pre | 2CTCs |
| Xu YH et al | China | 66 | 69(34-80) | ADC 35 SQC 31 | chemo. | 7.5ml | Cellsearch | EpCAM,CK8,18,19,DAPI | pre and post | 1CTC |
| Feng YQ et al | China | 49 | NR | ADC 20 SQC 29 | NR | 7.5ml | IF | EpCAM,CK,DAPI | pre | 1CTC |
| HuangTH et al | China | 51 | 58.6(43-75) | ADC 21 SQC 30 | surg. or chemo. or radio. | 4ml | ICC | CK | pre | 1CTC |
| Li J et al | China | 30 | 67(43-79) | ADC 12 SQC 18 | chemo. | 7.5ml | IF | CK | pre and post | 1CTC |
| Lin XM et al | China | 60 | 56(35-76) | ADC 32 SQC 28 | surg. | 10ml | ICC | CK | pre | 1CTC |
| Qian Z et al | China | 35 | 48(21-69) | SCLC 35 | NR | 7.5ml | Cellsearch | EpCAM,CK8,18,19,DAPI | pre | 1CTC |
| Zhao SW et al | China | 35 | 58(43-80) | ADC 31 SQC 4 | surg. | 3.2ml | IF | DAPI | post | 2CTCs |
ADC, adenocarcinoma; SQC, squamous cell carcinoma; SCLC, small-cell lung cancer; chemo., chemotherapy; radio., radiotherapy; surg., surgery; IF, immunofluorescence; ISET, isolation by size of epithelial tumor cells; ICC, immunocytochemistry; pre, pre-treatment; post, post-treatment; NR, not reported