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Table 3 Comparison of risk groups on demographic or treatment characteristics and other prognostic markers

From: Detection of circulating tumor cells in blood of metastatic breast cancer patients using a combination of cytokeratin and EpCAM antibodies

Parameter

Low Risk (CTC-L) CTC = 0

Medium Risk (CTC-M)CTC1-4

High Risk (CTC-H) CTC > =5

TOTAL

Association with LMH p-Value

Association with OS p-value (HR)

N/NG

%

N/NG

%

N/NG

%

N/NG

%

Patients with age at TSE >50

16/20

80

13/15

87

14/24

58

43/59

73

n.s.

n.s.

Patients with age at BC diagnosis >50

9/20

45

10/15

67

11/24

46

30/59

51

n.s.

n.s.

T3/T4 at BC diagnosis

2/16

12.5

4/10

40

5/20

25

11/46

24

n.s.

<0.01 (HR = 5.1)

N0 at BC diagnosis (NX = missing value)

7/16

44

2/10

20

2/19

10.5

11/45

24

0.03 (CAX)

0.001

ER/PR at least one positive

15/19

79

8/13

61.5

18/22

82

41/54

76

n.s.

0.02 (HR = 0.37)

HER2 overexpressed

4/14

29

2/11

18

4/21

19

10/46

22

n.s.

n.s.

CA 15–3 above normal value of 31.3 (≤ 30 days before TSE)

9/13

69

6/9

67

18/18

100

33/40

85

0.02 (FSHX) 0.03 (CAX)

n.s.

CRP above normal value of 5 (≤ 30 days before TSE)

3/12

25

5/8

62.5

13/19

68

21/39

54

0.03 (CAX)

n.s.

Visceral metastases

8/20

40

7/14

50

10/23

43.5

25/57

44

n.s.

n.s.

Nonvisceral metastases

20/20

100

12/14

86

22/23

96

54/57

95

n.s.

n.s

Bone metastases

14/20

70

6/14

43

20/23

87

40/57

70

0.02 (FSHX)

n.s.

No. of metastatic sites > =2

9/20

45

8/14

57

11/23

48

28/57

49

n.s.

0.02 (HR = 2.8)

Surgery of primary tumor

17/20

85

13/15

87

19/24

79

49/59

83

n.s.

n.s.

Radiation therapy

14/19

74

9/13

69

16/22

73

39/54

72

n.s.

n.s.

Chemotherapy

14/18

78

10/14

71

17/21

81

41/53

77

n.s.

n.s.

Mistletoe therapy

20/20

100

15/15

100

24/24

100

59/59

100

-

-

Anti-hormone therapy

16/19

84

8/13

61.5

19/23

83

43/55

78

n.s.

0.01 (HR = 0.34)

Bisphosponate therapy

11/17

65

6/14

43

17/19

89.5

34/50

68

0.03 (FSHX)

n.s.

Patients with ≥2 known therapy lines

15/20

75

6/15

40

14/24

58

35/59

59

n.s.

n.s.

  1. N is the number of patients, NG denotes the number of patients with non-missing values in the respective group. P-values are given if significant (p < 0.05), n.s. denotes “not significant”. LMH denotes the prognostic marker which differentiates between low (L), medium (M) and high (H) CTC levels. Risk groups are compared by the exact Cochrane Armitage trend test (CAX) or Fishers Exact Test (FSHX). Time of study entry (TSE) is defined as time of baseline blood draw. For each parameter in the table the univariate prognostic value for overall survival (OS) prediction is given in the last column. P-Values and Hazard Rates (HR) in this column are computed by Cox Proportional Hazard Regression; except for “N0 at BC diagnosis” the logrank test was used because of no events (deaths) in the reference group.
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BMC Cancer

ISSN: 1471-2407

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