Table 2 Epithelial CTC Prevalence Rates from IF Stained Cytology Slides by Various Demographics and Clinical Characteristics. The Fisher’s exact test p-values shown (when applicable) are for the comparison of the proportions of either HV subjects or MBC patients with and without one or more epithelial CTCs or five or more epithelial CTCs between the various clinical and demographical groupings

All Patients

72

5 (6.9%)

2 (2.8%)

75

34 (45.3%)

18 (24.0%)

Age at the time of the blood collection

 < 30

14

1 (7.1%)

0 (0.0%)

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

 30—39

30

1 (3.3%)

0 (0.0%)

2

2 (100.0%)

2 (100.0%)

 40—49

14

2 (14.3%)

1 (7.1%)

7

4 (57.1%)

0 (0.0%)

 50—59

10

1 (10.0%)

1 (10.0%)

13

7 (53.8%)

2 (15.4%)

 60—69

4

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

25

12 (48.0%)

9 (36.0%)

 >  = 70

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

28

9 (32.1%)

5 (17.9%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

0.610

0.307

0.288

0.034

Blood Collection Method

 Venipuncture

72

5 (6.9%)

2 (2.8%)

32

8 (25.0%)

3 (9.4%)

 Port

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

43

26 (60.5%)

15 (34.9%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

–-

–-

0.003

0.014

Volume of Blood Processed

 ≤ 8.0 mL

21

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

17

4 (23.5%)

3 (17.6%)

 8.5—9.0 mL

30

3 (10.0%)

1 (3.3%)

23

13 (56.5%)

8 (34.8%)

 9.5 mL

15

2 (13.3%)

1 (6.7%)

23

12 (52.2%)

5 (21.7%)

 ≥ 10.0 mL

6

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

12

5 (41.7%)

2 (16.7%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

0.334

0.754

0.180

0.628

Menopausal Status

 Pre-Menopausal

54

3 (5.6%)

1 (1.9%)

7

4 (57.1%)

2 (28.6%)

 Post-Menopausal

15

1 (6.7%)

1 (6.7%)

65

29 (44.6%)

16 (24.6%)

 Unknown

3

1 (33.3%)

0 (0.0%)

3

1 (33.3%)

0 (0.0%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

0.249

0.440

0.874

1.000

Race

 White

65

3 (4.6%)

1 (1.5%)

68

30 (44.1%)

17 (25.0%)

 Black

1

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

7

4 (57.1%)

1 (14.3%)

 Other

6

2 (33.3%)

1 (16.7%)

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

0.071

0.186

0.695

1.000

Smoking Status

 Never Smoked

46

2 (4.3%)

0 (0.0%)

35

12 (34.3%)

6 (17.1%)

 Previous Smoker

23

3 (13.0%)

2 (8.7%)

35

18 (51.4%)

10 (28.6%)

 Current Smoker

2

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

5

4 (80.0%)

2 (40.0%)

 Unknown

1

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

0.417

0.158

0.113

0.326

Previous History of Cancer?

 Yes

1

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

6

4 (66.7%)

2 (33.3%)

 No

71

5 (7.0%)

2 (2.8%)

69

30 (43.5%)

16 (23.2%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

1.000

1.000

0.401

0.626

Current Diagnosis of Hypertension?

 Yes

4

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

41

14 (34.1%)

8 (19.5%)

 No

68

5 (7.4%)

2 (2.9%)

34

20 (58.8%)

10 (29.4%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

1.000

1.000

0.039

0.417

Current Diagnosis of High Cholesterol?

 Yes

2

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

17

9 (52.9%)

7 (41.2%)

 No

70

5 (7.1%)

2 (2.9%)

58

25 (43.1%)

11 (19%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

1.000

1.000

0.582

0.103

Current Taking Growth Factors?

 Yes

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

3

1 (33.3%)

0 (0.0%)

 No

72

5 (6.9%)

2 (2.8%)

72

33 (45.8%)

18 (25.0%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

–-

–-

1.000

1.000

Current Taking Anti-Coagulants?

 Yes

1

1 (100.0%)

1 (100.0%)

13

6 (46.2%)

2 (15.4%)

 No

71

4 (5.6%)

1 (1.4%)

62

28 (45.2%)

16 (25.8%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

0.069

0.028

1.000

0.722

Current Taking Anti-Inflammatories?

 Yes

4

1 (25.0%)

1 (25.0%)

35

17 (48.6%)

9 (25.7%)

 No

68

4 (5.9%)

1 (1.5%)

40

17 (42.5%)

9 (22.5%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

0.255

0.109

0.647

0.791

Current Taking Pain Medications?

 Yes

3

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

48

27 (56.3%)

15 (31.3%)

 No

69

5 (7.2%)

2 (2.9%)

27

7 (25.9%)

3 (11.1%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

1.000

1.000

0.016

0.089

Current Taking Cytotoxic Therapies?

 Yes

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

32

17 (53.1%)

7 (21.9%)

 No

72

5 (6.9%)

2 (2.8%)

43

17 (39.5%)

11 (25.6%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

–-

–-

0.348

0.789

Breast Cancer ER Status

 Positive

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

65

29 (44.6%)

13 (20.0% 

 Negative

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

9

4 (44.4%)

4 (44.4%)

 Unknown

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

1

1 (100.0%)

1 (100.0%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

–-

–-

0.849

0.073

Breast Cancer PR Status

 Positive

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

55

26 (47.3%)

10 (18.2%)

 Negative

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

19

7 (36.8%)

7 (36.8%)

 Unknown

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

1

1 (100.0%)

1 (100.0%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

–-

–-

0.427

0.051

Breast Cancer HER2-neu Status

 Positive

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

16

8 (50.0%)

4 (25.0%)

 Equivocal

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

7

4 (57.1%)

4 (57.1%)

 Negative

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

44

19 (43.2%)

9 (20.5%)

 Unknown

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

8

3 (37.5%)

1 (12.5%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p -value

–-

–-

0.880

0.194

MBC Patient Disease Status

 Newly Diagnosed

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

6

2 (33.3%)

2 (33.3%)

 Stable / Responding

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

44

18 (40.9%)

10 (22.7%)

 Progressive / Recurrent

0

0 (0.0%)

0 (0.0%)

25

14 (56.0%)

6 (24.0%)

 Fisher’s Exact Test p-value

–-

–-

0.453

0.770