PTPRC and cancer: In this analysis, 4.7 ± 2.2 per 100,000 cells were CD45− & EpCAM+ cells in the peripheral blood of cancer patients, and this number did not differ significantly from that of non-cancer patients (2.8 ± 1.5/100,000) (Fig. 3c and Supplementary Figure S4; P = 0.2075).