SynthesisPloS one2013
Prognostic significance of circulating tumor cells in non-small-cell lung cancer patients: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 77 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Predictive Role of ctDNA and CTCs in Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Immunotherapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Prognostic value of circulating tumor cells in patients with bladder cancer: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Prognostic value of circulating tumor cells in esophageal cancer.World journal of gastroenterology · 2017Pooled it
- Circulating tumor cells predict survival benefit from chemotherapy in patients with lung cancer.Oncotarget · 2016Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Circulating Tumor Cells Predict Prognosis Following Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Treatment in EGFR-Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients.Oncology research · 2017Trial
- Clinical and translational roles of circulating tumor cells in non-small cell and small cell lung cancer: a narrative review.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Review
- Evaluation of the Cellsway Microfluidic CTC Enrichment and Identification Platform for CTC Detection in Metastatic NSCLC.Biosensors · 2026Article
- Circulating Tumor Cells for the Monitoring of Lung Cancer Therapies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Target sequence of single cells captured by a polymeric microfluidic device.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Circulating tumor cells: indicators of cancer progression, plasticity and utility for therapies.Pathology oncology research : POR · 2025Review
- Review of Plasma Exosomal DNA for Detecting EGFR Mutations in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).Advanced biomedical research · 2025Review
- Circulating Cancer-Associated Macrophage-like Cells as a Blood-Based Biomarker of Response to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Clinical and prognostic significance of detectingTranslational lung cancer research · 2023Article
- Circulating Tumor Cells as a Predictive Biomarker in Resectable Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Cancers · 2022Review
- CirculatingInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Unraveling Cancer Metastatic Cascade Using Microfluidics-based Technologies.Biophysical reviews · 2022Review
- Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs) in NSCLC: From Prognosis to Therapy Design.Pharmaceutics · 2021Review
- Assessment of the Efficacy and Clinical Utility of Different Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) Detection Assays in Patients with Chemotherapy-Naïve Advanced or Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
- Innovative Approaches in the Battle Against Cancer Recurrence: Novel Strategies to Combat Dormant Disseminated Tumor Cells.Frontiers in oncology · 2021Review
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issuedHuang, Jianwei [corrected to Wang, Jianwei]
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe prognostic significance of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) detected in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still inconsistent. We aimed to assess the prognostic relevance of CTCs using a meta-analysis.
methodsWe searched PubMed, Web of Science and EMBASE for relevant studies that assessed the prognostic relevance of CTCs in NSCLC. Statistical analyses were conducted to calculate the summary incidence, odds ratio, relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using fixed or random-effects models according to the heterogeneity of included studies.
resultsA total of 20 studies, comprising 1576 patients, met the inclusion criteria. In identified studies, CTCs were not correlated with histology (adenocarcinoma vs squamous cell carcinoma) (odds ratio [OR] = 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59-1.33; Z = -0.61; P = 0.545). However, pooled analyses showed that CTCs were associated with lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.06; 95% CI: 1.18-3.62; Z = 2.20; P = 0.027) and tumor stage (OR = 1.95; 95% CI: 1.08-3.54; Z = 2.53; P = 0.011). Moreover, CTCs were significantly associated with shorter overall survival (relative risk [RR] = 2.19; 95% CI: 1.53-3.12; Z = 4.32; P<0.0001) and progression-free/disease-free survival (RR = 2.14; 95% CI: 1.36-3.38; Z = 3.28; P<0.0001).
conclusionThe presence of CTCs indicates a poor prognosis in patients with NSCLC. Further well-designed prospective studies are required to explore the clinical applications of CTCs in lung cancer.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.