Table 1. Patients’ characteristics according to CTC subgroups.
| CTC subgroups | Negative-CTC (<11 FU/3 mL) | Low CTC level (11–16 FU/3 mL) | High CTC level (>16 FU/3 mL) | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients, n (%) | 38 (38.8) | 32 (32.7) | 28 (28.6) | |
| Gender, n (%) | 0.012 | |||
| Male | 19 (50.0) | 24 (75.0) | 23 (82.1) | |
| Female | 19 (50.0) | 8 (25.0) | 5 (17.9) | |
| Age (years) | 0.891 | |||
| Median, range | 62, 26–75 | 63.5, 33–75 | 61.5, 29–78 | |
| ≥60 years, n (%) | 23 (60.5) | 21 (65.6) | 17 (60.7) | |
| <60 years, n (%) | 15 (39.5) | 11 (34.4) | 11 (39.3) | |
| Smoking history, n (%) | 0.234 | |||
| Ever | 10 (26.3) | 14 (43.8) | 12 (42.9) | |
| Never | 28 (73.7) | 18 (56.3) | 16 (57.1) | |
| Clinical stage, n (%) | 0.474 | |||
| Recurrence disease | 8 (21.1) | 5 (15.6) | 8 (28.6) | |
| IV | 30 (78.9) | 27 (84.4) | 20 (71.4) | |
| Treatment regimen, n (%) | 0.506 | |||
| AC | 34 (89.5) | 28 (87.5) | 24 (85.7) | |
| AP | 2 (5.3) | 4 (22.5) | 2 (7.1) | |
| AO | 1 (2.6) | 0 (0) | 2 (7.1) | |
| A | 1 (2.6) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| Mutational status, n (%) | 0.234 | |||
| EGFR | 7 (18.4) | 3 (9.4) | 8 (28.6) | |
| ALK | 4 (10.5) | 1 (3.1) | 2 (7.1) | |
| ROS1 | 1 (2.6) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| KRAS | 2 (5.3) | 3 (9.4) | 2 (7.1) | |
| Wild-type | 19 (50.0) | 22 (68.8) | 9 (32.1) | |
| Unknown | 5 (13.2) | 3 (9.4) | 7 (25.0) |
CTC, circulating tumor cell; FU, folate receptor unit; NSCLC-NOS, non-small cell lung cancer not otherwise specified; AC, pemetrexed + carboplatin; AP, pemetrexed + cisplatin; AO, pemetrexed + oxaliplatin; A, pemetrexed; EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor; ALK, anaplastic lymphoma kinase; KRAS, Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog.