Table I.
Association between the CTC-positive rate in the peripheral blood of patients with breast cancer and clinicopathological parameters.
| Clinicopathological parameters | Total, n=167 | CTC-positive rate (%), n=92 | CTC-negative rate (%), n=75 | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 0.530 | |||
| ≤45 | 45 | 23 (51) | 22 (49) | |
| >45 | 122 | 69 (57) | 53 (43) | |
| Menopausal status | 0.084 | |||
| Premenopausal | 68 | 32 (47) | 36 (53) | |
| Postmenopausal | 99 | 60 (61) | 39 (39) | |
| Tumor sizea | 0.012 | |||
| T1 | 65 | 27 (42) | 38 (58) | |
| T2 | 98 | 62 (63) | 36 (37) | |
| T3 | 4 | 3 (75) | 1 (25) | |
| Lymph node stagea | 0.120 | |||
| pN0 | 102 | 52 (51) | 50 (49) | |
| pN1 | 34 | 20 (59) | 14 (41) | |
| pN2 | 15 | 7 (47) | 8 (53) | |
| pN3 | 16 | 13 (81) | 3 (19) | |
| Disease stagea | 0.095 | |||
| I | 43 | 18 (42) | 25 (58) | |
| II | 92 | 53 (58) | 39 (42) | |
| III | 32 | 21 (66) | 11 (34) | |
| Histological grade | 0.494 | |||
| 1 | 12 | 6 (50) | 6 (50) | |
| 2 | 98 | 51 (52) | 47 (48) | |
| 3 | 57 | 35 (61) | 22 (39) | |
| ER/PR statusb | 0.600 | |||
| Negative | 50 | 26 (52) | 24 (48) | |
| Positive | 117 | 66 (56) | 51 (44) | |
| HER2 statusc | 0.143 | |||
| Negative | 127 | 65 (51) | 62 (49) | |
| Positive | 40 | 27 (67) | 13 (33) |
a
Classified according to the Union for International Cancer Control.
b
ER/PR status was determined to be positive when the expression of one or both of the receptors are positive.
c
HER2 status was determined to be positive when a score of 3+ was attained in immunohistochemistry, or positive fluorescence was detected by in situ hybridization. CTC, circulating tumor cell; ER, estrogen receptor; PR, progesterone receptor; HER2, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.