Disseminated tumor cells as selection marker and monitoring tool for secondary adjuvant treatment in early breast cancer. Descriptive results from an intervention study

Table 3 Number of DTCs detected before (BM2) and after docetaxel treatment (BM3/BM4) in BM2-positive patients ^a

Number of DTCs	BM2 Number (%)	BM3 Number (%)	BM4 Number (%)	Last post-treatment BM result Number (%)
0		59 (83.1)	53^b (82.8)	57 (79.2)
1	39 (54.1)	7 (9.9)	9 (14.1)	9 (12.5)
2	16 (22.2)	1 (1.4)	1 (1.6)	2 (2.8)
≥3	17 (23.6)	4 (5.6)	1 (1.6)	4 (5.6)
Not performed		1	8

^aOnly patients with DTC results at BM3 and/or BM4 are included (see Figure 1).
^bThree samples classified as negative with morphologically similar cells detected in the corresponding negative control.

ISSN: 1471-2407