Table 1.
Comparison of patient and tumor characteristics between patients positive for CTCs and ctDNA (≥ 1 CTC/≥ 0.01% MAF) and patients with no CTCs/% MAF
| Total (N = 31) | CTC negative (N = 23) | CTC positive (N = 8) | p value | Total (N = 20) | ctDNA negative (N = 7) | ctDNA positive (N = 13) | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | ||||||||
| Median (range) | 50 (33–74) | 47 (33–74) | 56 (43–71) | 0.21a | 51 (35–74) | 46 (35–62) | 58 (40–74) | 0.05a |
| < 50 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0.43b | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0.35b |
| ≥ 50 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 8 | ||
| Tumor size and stage | ||||||||
| Median size, mm (range) | 30 (4–90) | 30 (4–90) | 38 (16–80) | 0.21a | 30 (4–80) | 24 (8–80) | 30 (4–80) | 0.60a |
| T1 (< 20 mm) | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0.64b | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0.61b |
| T2–T4 (20 mm or higher) | 23 | 16 | 7 | 14 | 4 | 10 | ||
| Nodal stage | ||||||||
| N0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1.0b | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.52b |
| N+ | 27 | 20 | 7 | 18 | 7 | 11 | ||
| ER | ||||||||
| Negative (10% or lower) | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1.0b | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.25b |
| Positive (> 10%) | 23 | 17 | 6 | 16 | 7 | 9 | ||
| HER2 | ||||||||
| Negative | 25 | 18 | 7 | 1.0b | 17 | 5 | 12 | 0.27b |
| Positive | 6 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Ki67 | ||||||||
| Median % of cells stained (range) | 45 (15–95) | 45 (20–95) | 49 (15–90) | 0.61a | 40 (15–90) | 30 (15–90) | 45 (20–90) | 0.19a |
| Low (20% or lower) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1.0b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1.0b |
| High (> 20%) | 28 | 21 | 7 | 17 | 6 | 11 | ||
| Breast cancer subtype | ||||||||
| ER+ | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0.63b | 13 | 5 | 8 | 0.20b |
| HER2+ | 6 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| TNBC | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | ||
| Multifocality | ||||||||
| No | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0.64b | 15 | 4 | 11 | 0.29b |
| Yes | 8 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | ||
| Missing | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Histological subtype | ||||||||
| Ductal | 23 | 19 | 4 | 0.15b | 13 | 3 | 10 | 0.17b |
| Other | 8 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Detection mode | ||||||||
| Screening | 9 | 7 | 2 | 1.0b | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0.64b |
| Symptomatic | 22 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 7 | ||
aMann–Whitney U-test
bFisher’s exact test