Materials and methods
Study design
In this single-blind prospective study, 602 patients were
enrolled before surgery for a breast tumor with curative
intend. To increase the sensitivity, 30 ml of blood was
drawn in all patients into four CellSave preservative
tubes (Veridex, Raritan, NJ, USA) before surgery to
measure CTC. Patients who were 18 years or older, had
an ECOG performance status of 0 or 1, and clinical
stage I to III breast cancer were included in the study.