PTPRC and cancer: For CTC enumeration purposes, we considered as CTCs those cells presenting with cytokeratin (CK)-positivity, CD45-negativity and cancer-related morphological features (e.g. large nucleolus, irregular size and shape, scarce cytoplasm), plus at least one of the following parameters: presence of multicellular aggregates of CK-positive cells (at least two cells), positivity for the oestrogen receptor (ER) or gene amplification of the tyrosine kinase receptor ErbB2 (HER2, evaluated by fluorescence in situ hybridisation).