Table 1.
Patient Demographics
| Variables | Overall cohort | 1 or more circulating tumor cells | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | Patients positive (%) | Patients negative (%) | p Value | |
| Total patients | 509 | 124 | 385 | ||
| Age, y, mean (range) | 53 (21 – 91) | 53 (25 – 84) | 53 (21 – 91) | ||
| Median follow-up, mo | 48 | 48 | 48 | ||
| Clinical tumor size | 0.47 | ||||
| <2 cm (T1) | 208/509 | 41 | 50/124 (40) | 158/385 (41) | |
| 2 cm to 5 cm (T2) | 176/509 | 35 | 38/124 (31) | 138/385 (36) | |
| >5 cm (T3) | 51/509 | 10 | 14/124 (11) | 37/385 (10) | |
| Skin/chest wall infiltration (T4) | 72/509 | 14 | 22/124 (18) | 50/385 (13) | |
| Missing | 2/509 | <1 | 2/385 (<1) | ||
| Pathologic nodal status | 0.24 | ||||
| Node negative (N0) | 273/509 | 54 | 64/124 (52) | 209/385 (54) | |
| 1–3 Lymph nodes | 152/509 | 30 | 34/124 (27) | 118/385 (31) | |
| >3 Lymph nodes | 82/509 | 16 | 26/124 (21) | 56/385 (15) | |
| Missing | 2/509 | <1 | 2/385 (<1) | ||
| Histologic tumor grade | 0.27 | ||||
| Low grade (grade 1) | 56/509 | 11 | 14/124 (11) | 42/385 (11) | |
| Intermediate grade (grade 2) | 232/509 | 46 | 50/124 (40) | 182/385 (47) | |
| High grade (grade 3) | 202/509 | 40 | 57/124 (46) | 145/385 (38) | |
| Missing | 19/509 | 4 | 3/124 (3) | 16/385 (4) | |
| Receptors | |||||
| Estrogen receptor positive | 358/509 | 71 | 88/124 (71) | 270/385 (70) | 0.95 |
| Progesterone receptor positive | 295/509 | 58 | 70/124 (56) | 225/385 (58) | 0.72 |
| Missing | 3/509 | 1 | 3/385 (1) | ||
| HER2 receptor positive | 72/509 | 14 | 14/124 (11) | 58/385 (15) | 0.33 |
| Missing or equivocal | 12/509 | 5/124 (4) | 7/385 (2) | ||
| Tumor phenotype | 0.63 | ||||
| Luminal A | 301/489 | 62 | 72/118 (61) | 229/371 (62) | |
| Luminal B | 55/489 | 11 | 13/118 (11) | 42/371 (11) | |
| HER2 | 40/489 | 8 | 7/118 (6) | 33/371 (9) | |
| Triple negative | 93/489 | 19 | 26/118 (22) | 67/371 (18) | |
| Type of surgery | 0.95 | ||||
| Segmental mastectomy | 256/509 | 50 | 63/124 (51) | 193/385 (50) | |
| Total mastectomy | 134/509 | 26 | 31/124 (25) | 103/385 (27) | |
| Modified radical mastectomy | 112/509 | 22 | 28/124 (23) | 84/385 (22) | |
| Radical mastectomy | 7/509 | 1 | 2/124 (2) | 5/385 (1) | |
| Post-menopausal women | 330/505 | 65 | 86/124 (69) | 244/385 (63) | 0.22 |
| Unknown | 4/509 | 1 | 1/124 (1) | 3/385 (1) | |
| NeoadjuvantcChemotherapy | 166/509 | 33 | 43/124 (35) | 123/385 (32) | 0.53 |
| Chemonaïve | 343/509 | 67 | 81/124 (65) | 262/385 (68) | |
| Relapses | 51/509 | 10 | 23/124 (19) | 28/385 (7) | <0.001 |