Long-term prognostic impact of circulating tumour cells in gastric cancer patients

Figure 3 Overall and relapse-free survival. A: The overall survival rate of 65 patients was compared using Cox proportional hazards analysis. Although there was no significant difference, the overall survival rate of the patients with more than 5 CTCs was lower than that of patients with 5 or less CTCs (hazard ratio, 2.07; 95%CI: 0.693-5.744; P = 0.183); B: The relapse-free survival rates of 57 patients with different CTC levels who underwent curative surgery were compared using Cox proportional hazards analysis. Relapse-free survival was significantly lower in patients with more than 5 CTCs (hazard ratio, 2.28; 95% CI: 0.068-4.698; P = 0.034). CTCs: Circulating tumour cells.