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Tumour budding in colorectal carcinoma
Author(s) -
Prall F
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
histopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.626
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1365-2559
pISSN - 0309-0167
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2559.2006.02551.x
Subject(s) - tumor budding , pathology , budding , colorectal cancer , context (archaeology) , surgical pathology , carcinoma , anatomical pathology , biology , epithelial–mesenchymal transition , medicine , immunohistochemistry , cancer , metastasis , paleontology , genetics , lymph node metastasis
The term tumour budding denotes that at the invasion front of colorectal adenocarcinomas tumour cells, singly or in small aggregates, become detached from the neoplastic glands. This morphological feature is increasingly being recognized as a strong and robust adverse prognostic factor. Biologically, tumour budding is closely related to the epithelial–mesenchymal transition. In this review the morphological features of tumour budding are discussed, as observed by the surgical pathologist reporting colorectal carcinoma resection specimens. The morphological features are put into context with the rapidly expanding knowledge of the epithelial–mesenchymal transition in general, and the molecular pathology of colorectal carcinoma in particular. Finally, a systematic analysis of the relevant published clinicopathological studies emphasizes the potential of tumour budding as a prognostic factor for routine surgical pathology.