Table 3. Correlation between hENT-1 expression in CTCs with clinicopathological features in PDAC patients.
| Characteristics | CTCs (n=39) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | High | ||
| Gender | 0.855 | ||
| Male | 8 | 11 | |
| Female | 9 | 11 | |
| Age (years) | 0.267 | ||
| >65 | 10 | 9 | |
| ≤65 | 7 | 13 | |
| Tumor location | 0.987 | ||
| Proximal | 10 | 13 | |
| Distal | 7 | 9 | |
| CA19-9 level (U/mL) | 0.731 | ||
| >37 | 14 | 19 | |
| ≤37 | 3 | 3 | |
| Differentiation | 0.102 | ||
| Poor | 9 | 6 | |
| Well/moderate | 8 | 16 | |
| Tumor size (mm) | 0.759 | ||
| >40 | 7 | 8 | |
| ≤40 | 10 | 14 | |
| Lymph nodes status | 0.102 | ||
| Positive | 9 | 6 | |
| Negative | 8 | 16 | |
| AJCC stage | 0.855 | ||
| IIB−III | 8 | 11 | |
| I−IIA | 9 | 11 | |
| Perineural invasion | 0.709 | ||
| Positive | 16 | 20 | |
| Negative | 1 | 2 | |
| Microvascular invasion | 0.008 | ||
| Positive | 11 | 5 | |
| Negative | 6 | 17 | |
CTCs, circulating tumor cells; hENT-1, human equilibrative nucleoside transporter-1; CA19-9, carbohydrate antigen 19-9; AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer.