Table 3.
Correlation of postoperative CTC number to clinicopathological characteristics
| Characteristics | 3-year recurrence rate% | No. of patients (%) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTC ≥ 1/7.5 ml | CTC ≥ 2/7.5 ml | CTC ≥ 3/7.5 ml | CTC ≥ 4/7.5 ml | CTC ≥ 5/7.5 ml | ||
| Gender | ||||||
| Male (n = 46) | 60.9 | 18 (39.1%) | 10 (21.7%) | 9 (19.6%) | 7 (15.2%) | 3 (6.5%) |
| Female (n = 17) | 57.5 | 3 (17.6%) | 1 (5.9%) | 1 (5.9%) | 1 (5.9%) | 1 (5.9%) |
| p value | 0.606 | 0.108 | 0.272 | 0.352 | 0.574 | 1.000 |
| Age | ||||||
| ≤ 45 (n = 13) | 57.1 | 5 (38.5%) | 2 (15.4%) | 2 (15.4%) | 2 (15.4%) | 1 (7.7%) |
| > 45 (n = 50) | 60.6 | 16 (32.0%) | 9 (18.0%) | 8 (16.0%) | 6 (12.0%) | 3 (6.0%) |
| p value | 0.565 | 0.912 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 |
| Primary sitea | ||||||
| EGJ (n = 19) | 43.5 | 7 (36.8%) | 3 (15.8%) | 3 (15.8%) | 3 (15.8%) | 1 (5.3%) |
| Non-EGJ (n = 44) | 67.2 | 14 (31.8%) | 8 (18.2%) | 7 (15.9%) | 5 (11.4%) | 3 (6.8%) |
| p value | 0.001 | 0.698 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 0.943 | 1.000 |
| Differentiationb | ||||||
| Good (n = 15) | 66.0 | 5 (33.3%) | 3 (20.0%) | 2 (13.3%) | 1 (6.7%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Poor (n = 48) | 57.8 | 16 (33.3%) | 8 (16.7%) | 8 (16.7%) | 7 (14.6%) | 4 (8.3%) |
| p value | 0.244 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 0.719 | 0.564 |
| Lauren | ||||||
| Intestinal (n = 25) | 62.0 | 8 (32.0%) | 5 (20.0%) | 4 (16.0%) | 2 (8.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Diffuse (n = 16) | 65.7 | 4 (25.0%) | 3 (18.8%) | 3 (18.8%) | 3 (18.8%) | 2 (12.5%) |
| Mixed (n = 22) | 52.4 | 9 (40.9%) | 3 (13.6%) | 3 (13.6%) | 3 (13.6%) | 2 (9.1%) |
| p value | 0.115 | 0.580 | 0.844 | 0.913 | 0.505 | 0.167 |
| TNM classification | ||||||
| I (n = 15) | 100.0 | 2 (13.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| II (n = 16) | 54.7 | 5 (31.3%) | 4 (25.0%) | 3 (18.8%) | 2 (12.5%) | 1 (6.3%) |
| III (n = 32) | 43.1 | 14 (43.8%) | 7 (21.9%) | 7 (21.9%) | 6 (18.8%) | 3 (9.4%) |
| p value | 0.062 | 0.117 | 0.106 | 0.161 | 0.249 | 0.798 |
| Depth of penetration | ||||||
| T1/T2 (n = 19) | 89.5 | 2 (10.5%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| T3 (n = 25) | 51.2 | 10 (40.0%) | 4 (16.0%) | 3 (12.0%) | 3 (12.0%) | 1 (4.0%) |
| T4 (n = 19) | 41.4 | 9 (47.4%) | 7 (36.8%) | 7 (36.8%) | 5 (26.3%) | 3 (15.8%) |
| p value | 0.000 | 0.036 | 0.008 | 0.005 | 0.043 | 0.178 |
| Lymph node | ||||||
| N0 (n = 16) | 100.0 | 4 (25.0%) | 2 (12.5%) | 1 (6.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| N1/N2 (n = 26) | 54.5 | 8 (30.8%) | 6 (23.1%) | 6 (23.1%) | 5 (19.2%) | 2 (7.7%) |
| N3 (n = 21) | 33.3 | 9 (42.9%) | 3 (14.3%) | 3 (14.3%) | 3 (14.3%) | 2 (9.5%) |
| p value | 0.001 | 0.488 | 0.761 | 0.375 | 0.185 | 0.663 |
| Lymph-vascular invasion | ||||||
| Yes (n = 34) | 49.8 | 10 (29.4%) | 5 (14.7%) | 5 (14.7%) | 3 (8.8%) | 2 (5.9%) |
| No (n = 29) | 71.4 | 11 (37.9%) | 6 (20.7%) | 5 (17.2%) | 5 (17.2%) | 2 (6.9%) |
| p value | 0.002 | 0.475 | 0.533 | 1.000 | 0.453 | 1.000 |
| CEAc level before operation (ng/ml) | ||||||
| < 5 (n = 51) | 62.6 | 18 (35.3%) | 9 (17.6%) | 9 (17.6%) | 8 (15.7%) | 4 (7.8%) |
| ≥ 5 (n = 12) | 48.6 | 3 (25.0%) | 2 (16.7%) | 1 (8.3%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| p value | 0.046 | 0.734 | 1.000 | 0.722 | 0.324 | 1.000 |
Italic values indicate that there are significant differences in post-operative CTCs between different clinicopathological types
aEGJ, gastroesophageal junction
bGood, including high or moderate differentiation; Poor, including low differentiation, mucinous adenocarcinoma, and signet-ring cell carcinoma
ccarcinoembryonic antigen