Table 1.
Correlations of CTC with patients’ pathoclinical characteristics.
| Group | n | Average Age (Median, Range) (years) | CTC detected in | CTC Detection Rate (%) | Average CTC Count (Range) (/4 mL) | p Value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC Patients | 238 | 52.34 (51, 29-75) | 199 | 83.61 | 2.38 (0-15) | <0.0001 |
| Patients with BBD | 217 | 46.97 (45, 20-73) | 71 | 32.72 | 0.43 (0-4) | |
| Healthy volunteers | 20 | 50.58 (49, 29-67) | 5 | 25 | 0.25 (0-1) | |
| (All BC patients number = 238) | ||||||
| AJCC Stage | 0.0007 | |||||
| 0 | 17 | 51.75 (46, 40-67) | 11 | 64.71 | 1.29 (0-4) | |
| I | 82 | 54.6 (55, 31-73) | 68 | 82.93 | 2.06 (0-7) | |
| II | 106 | 51.91 (51, 29-73) | 92 | 86.79 | 2.63 (0-15) | |
| III | 31 | 48.37 (46, 29-75) | 27 | 87.1 | 3.06 (0-9) | |
| IV | 2 | 48.5 (48.5, 34-63) | 1 | 50 | 0.5 (0-1) | |
| TNM Stage | ||||||
| Tumor Size | 0.0015 | |||||
| Tis | 17 | 51.75 (46, 40-67) | 11 | 64.71 | 1.29 (0-4) | |
| T1 | 117 | 53.49 (54, 31-73) | 98 | 83.76 | 2.23 (0-13) | |
| T2 | 91 | 51.52 (50, 29-75) | 77 | 84.62 | 2.59 (0-15) | |
| T3 | 11 | 50.28 (54, 29-64) | 11 | 100 | 3.73 (1-8) | |
| T4 | 2 | 38 (38, 37-39) | 2 | 100 | 3 (2-4) | |
| Lymph Node Involvement | 0.0034 | |||||
| N0 | 142 | 53.76 (53, 29-73) | 111 | 78.17 | 2.06 (0-8) | |
| N1 | 72 | 50.99 (50.5, 29-69) | 66 | 91.67 | 2.86 (0-15) | |
| N2 | 15 | 46.49 (45, 33-75) | 11 | 73.33 | 1.93 (0-4) | |
| N3 | 9 | 50.52 (54, 34-64) | 9 | 100 | 4.11 (1-9) | |
CTC, circulating tumor cell; n, number of patients; BC, breast cancer; BBD, benign breast diseases; AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; TNM, tumor-node-metastasis; Tis, tumor in situ.
*The p value of comparisons is based on the CTC enumeration of each group.
Bold values mean statistical significances.