Table 1.
Patient Characteristics and Correlation with CTC Detection Prior to and After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
| n (%) | Pre-NAC | Post-NAC | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTC Positive (n=25) | P (χ2) | CTC Positive (n=8) | P (χ2) | ||
| Age | |||||
| ≦45 | 16 (53%) | 13 | 3 | ||
| >45 | 14 (47%) | 12 | 1.000 | 5 | 0.417 |
| Tumor size | |||||
| T1 and T2 | 13 (43%) | 12 | 5 | ||
| T3 and T4 | 17 (57%) | 13 | 0.355 | 3 | 0.102 |
| Node | |||||
| Negative | 12 (40%) | 10 | 3 | ||
| Positive | 18 (60%) | 15 | 1.000 | 5 | 1.000 |
| Tumor grade | |||||
| 1 and 2 | 12 | 11 | 2 | ||
| 3 | 18 | 14 | 0.622 | 6 | 0.419 |
| Hormone receptors | |||||
| ER or PR positive | 16 (53%) | 13 | 2 | ||
| ER and PR negative | 14 (47%) | 12 | 1.000 | 6 | 0.101 |
| HER2 | |||||
| Positive | 14 (47%) | 9 | 4 | ||
| Negative | 16 (53%) | 16 | 0.014 | 4 | 1.000 |
| Ki-67 | |||||
| ≦20% | 13 (43%) | 11 | 2 | ||
| >20% | 17 (57%) | 14 | 1.000 | 6 | 0.209 |
Notes: The bold value, p<0.05.
Abbreviations: n, number; NAC, neoadjuvant chemotherapy; CTC, circulating tumor cell; ER, estrogen receptor; PR, progesterone receptor.