Table 1.
Clinical characteristics
| Variations | Number | CTC <2 | CTC ≥2 | CTC <3 | CTC ≥3 | CTC <5 | CTC ≥5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | |||||||
| Female | 29 | 6 | 23 | 11 | 18 | 21 | 8 |
| Male | 33 | 13 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 25 | 8 |
| p | 0.111 | 0.191 | 0.764 | ||||
| Age | |||||||
| < 60 | 28 | 7 | 21 | 12 | 16 | 22 | 6 |
| ≥60 | 34 | 12 | 22 | 17 | 17 | 24 | 10 |
| p | 0.382 | 0.575 | 0.475 | ||||
| Differentiation | |||||||
| Well or intermediate | 43 | 13 | 30 | 21 | 22 | 33 | 10 |
| Poor | 19 | 6 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 6 |
| p | 0.916 | 0.624 | 0.490 | ||||
| Tumor stage | |||||||
| I–II | 52 | 18 | 34 | 26 | 26 | 43 | 9 |
| III–IV | 10 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 7 |
| p | 0.241 | 0.415 | 0.002 | ||||
| Tumor size | |||||||
| T1–T2 | 23 | 6 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 20 | 3 |
| T3–T4 | 39 | 13 | 26 | 16 | 23 | 26 | 13 |
| p | 0.550 | 0.237 | 0.078 | ||||
| Lymph nodes | |||||||
| N0 | 34 | 12 | 22 | 17 | 17 | 28 | 6 |
| N1 | 28 | 7 | 21 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 10 |
| p | 0.382 | 0.575 | 0.106 | ||||
| Metastasis | |||||||
| M0 | 58 | 19 | 39 | 28 | 30 | 45 | 13 |
| M1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| p | 0.303 | 0.701 | 0.083 | ||||
| CEA | |||||||
| < 10 ug/ml | 50 | 16 | 34 | 23 | 27 | 38 | 12 |
| ≥10 ug/ml | 12 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 4 |
| p | 0.902 | 0.803 | 0.767 | ||||
| Median DFS, months | 19.0 | 22.0 | 18.0 | 23.8 | 16.0 | 22.0 | 8.0 |
| p | 0.211 | 0.033 | 0.032 | ||||
| Median OS, months | 23.5 | 26.9 | 20.0 | 29.4 | 18.0 | 26.5 | 13.6 |
| p | 0.150 | 0.039 | 0.029 | ||||
| Treatment | |||||||
| Surgery + chemotherapy | 41 | 12 | 29 | 18 | 23 | 32 | 9 |
| Surgery | 17 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 4 |
| Chemotherapy | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Supportive care | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
p‐value <0.05 are indicated as bold.