Multivariate analysis for disease recurrence and survival
A multivariate analysis was performed for RFS in which
all univariate significant factors were included (Table 1).
After stepwise exclusion of the non-significant variables
the final model is shown in Table 3. This shows that Tstage
and differential grade are independent prognostic
factors for recurrence, but that preoperative presence of
CTC is not (P = 0.155). However, if patients with local
recurrence are excluded and only patients with distant
recurrence are included in the analysis (n = 41), then
preoperative presence of CTC is an independent prognostic
factor (P = 0.015) (Table 4). For BRD the final model is shown in Table 5. This shows that CTC