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. 2017 Dec 6;15(2):2522–2528. doi: 10.3892/ol.2017.7540

Table II.

Number of CTCs and subtypes in patients with breast cancera.

Aneuploid CTCs, range (median) Diploid CTCs, range (median) Triploid CTCs, range (median) Tetraploid CTCs, range (median) Multipoid (≥5) CTCs, range (median)
Variables Counts CK+ Counts CK+ Counts CK+ Counts CK+ Counts CK+
Sample type
  Health donors 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
  Benign tumors 0–3 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0–3 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
  Breast cancers 0–19 (2.0) 0–6 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–18 (1.0) 0–5 (0.0) 0–4 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–15 (1.0) 0–6 (1.0)
Tumor size
  T1 0–19 (3.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–10 (1.5)b 0–1 (0.0) 0–3 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–5 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0)
  T2 0–19 (2.0) 0–6 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–18 (1.0)c 0–5 (0.0) 0–4 (0.0) 0–1 (0) 0–10 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0)
  T3 0–18 (5.5) 0–2 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0–10 (4.0) 0 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–6 (1.0) 0–1 (0.0)
Molecular typing
  Luminal A 0–18 (2.0)d 0–3 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–10 (1.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–3 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–6 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0)
  Luminal B 0–19 (2.0)e 0–6 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–18 (1.0) 0–5 (0.0) 0–4 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–15 (0.0) 0–3 (0.0)
  Her2-positive 0–15 (4.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0–8 (2.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–4 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0–10 (1.0) 0 (0.0)
  Triple-negative 1–12 (2.5) 0–2 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0–8 (1.0) 0 (0.0) 0–3 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0–3 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0)
Clinical stage
  I 0–12 (3.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–8 (1.5) 0–1 (0.0) 0–3 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–5 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0)
  II 0–19 (2.0) 0–6 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–18 (1.0) 0–5 (0.0) 0–4 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–10 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0)
  III 0–18 (2.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0–10 (1.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–6 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0)
  IV 0–8 (3.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0–5 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
Lymph node status
  Metastasis 0–19 (3.0) 0–3 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0) 0–10 (1.5) 0–2 (0.0) 0–4 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–6 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0)
  Non-metastasis 0–19 (2.0) 0–6 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–18 (1.0) 0–5 (0.0) 0–4 (0.0) 0–1 (0.0) 0–10 (0.0) 0–2 (0.0)
a

Counts of CTCs and their subtypes in patients with different disease, tumor size and hormone receptor status

b

P=0.048, T1 vs. T3

c

P=0.006, T2 vs. T3

d

P(Luminal A/Her2-positive)=0.022

e

P(Luminal A/Her2-positive)=0.05. CTC, circulating tumor cell; Her2, herceptin 2; CK, cytokeratin.