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| The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in patients with esophageal cancer. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Science Citation Index Expanded, Cochrane library (from inception to October 2016) with the key words "esophageal cancer", "circulating tumor cells", "prognosis" and "peripheral blood". Hazard ratio, risk ratio, odds ratio and their 95% confidence intervals were set as effect measures. All analyses were performed by STATA 12.0. 17 studies were retrieved, CTCs positive was significant associated with poor progression-free survival (HR = 2.55; 95%CI: 2.12-3.06) and overall survival (HR = 2.46; 95%CI: 1.94-3.11). CTCs positive were also associated with high recurrence (OR=2.66; 95%CI: 1.63-4.35) and poor response of chemoradiotherapy (RR=0.80; 95%CI: 0.66-0.97). For clinicopathological characteristics, CTCs positive was significantly associated with TNM staging, depth of infiltration, regional lymph nodes metastasis, distant metastasis, lymphatic invasion and venous invasion. The meta-analysis has confirmed the significant clinicopathological and prognostic value of CTCs positive for both PFS and OS in patients with esophageal cancer. |
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| Keywords:esophageal cancer, CTCs, prognosis, Meta-Analysis |
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