Table 3.

Relationship between CTCs and ESCC clinicopathological features

		Total CTC		P	Epithelial CTC		P	Hybrid CTC		P	Mesenchymal CTC		P
		M	IQR		M	IQR		M	IQR		M	IQR
Total		20	12–39		1	0–3		16	6–33		1	0–4
Age	< 65	16	12–32.75	0.072	0.5	0–3	0.136	14	6–27.75	0.095	1	0–4.5	0.375
	≥ 65	22	13–54		1	0–3		17	8–42		2	0–4
Gender	Male	23	12–38.75	0.741	1	0–2.75	0.753	17	6–32.75	0.728	2	0–5	0.123
	Female	19	12–39		1	0–3		14	6–35		1	0–4
T Staging	Stage I and II	17.5	7.75–41.75	0.482	1	0–4	0.289	14.5	5.75–36.5	0.791	1	0–2	0.005†
	Stage III and IV	21	14–38.5		1	0–2		16	8.5–31.5		3	0.5–6
N Staging	Stage 0	20.5	10.5–43.25	0.799	1	0–3	0.656	17	6–37.5	0.582	1	0–4.75	0.942
	Stage I and II	20	12–37		1	0–3		15	6–31		2	0–4
Clinical staging	Stage I	14	7.5–43.25	0.524	1	0–3.75	0.557	12.5	6–37.5	0.818	0	0–1.75	0.028‡
	Stage II	21.5	11–34.25		1	0–3.25		17	5–31.25		2	0–4.25
	Stage III	22	17–39		1	0–2		16	10–32		3	0–7.5
Treatment modality§	Non‐surgical	20.5	12.78–36	0.722	0	0–1.75	0.314	16	7.25–30.5	0.917	3.5	2–5.75	0.011‡
	Surgical	18.5	7.75–41.75		1	0–3		15.5	5.75–36.5		1	0–3
Tumor location	Upper segment	16	7–39	0.714	1	0–3	0.860	15	6–29	0.844	1	0–3	0.517
	Middle segment	20	12–38.25		1	0–4		16.5	6–32.25		2	0–4.25
	Lower segment	38.5	3.25–48.5		1	0–1.25		36.5	0–42.25		2	0.75–5.5

^† Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two‐tailed).

^‡ Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (two‐tailed).

^§ Cervical esophageal cancer patients were excluded. CTC, circulating tumor cell; ESCC, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; IQR, interquartile range.