Prognostic Implications of Intratumoral Budding in Colorectal Cancer: Detailed Analysis Based on Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 134
• Main Authors: Pyo, Jung-Soo, Choi, Ji Eun, Kim, Nae Yu, Min, Kyueng-Whan, Kang, Dong-Wook
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26.12.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Biopsy; Cancer; Colon; Colorectal cancer; Development and progression; Diagnosis; Health aspects; Identification and classification; immunoscore; intratumoral budding; Lymphatic system; Lymphocytes; Meta-analysis; Metastasis; Prognosis; tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte; South Korea; United States > US; tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte; colorectal cancer; immunoscore; intratumoral budding; prognosis
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm13010134

This study aims to understand the clinical and pathological importance of intratumoral budding (ITB) in colorectal cancer (CRC) and its relationship with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). CRCs can be classified into hot (high immunoscore (IS)) and cold (low IS) tumors. We investigated the number of ITBs in a hotspot area and categorized them into high-ITB (≥5) and low-ITB (<5) groups. The clinicopathological significance of ITB in human CRCs was evaluated, and a detailed analysis based on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) was also performed. High ITB was identified in 59 of 266 CRC cases (22.2%). High ITB significantly correlated with a poorly differentiated tumor, lympho-vascular invasion, perineural invasion, higher pT stage, lymph node metastasis, and higher metastatic lymph node ratio. High ITB was also significantly correlated with a low IS and low CD8-positive lymphocytic infiltrate. The number of ITBs was substantially higher in the low-IS group than in the high-IS group (3.28 ± 3.31 vs. 2.19 ± 2.59; = 0.005). High ITB significantly correlated with worse overall survival ( = 0.004). In the low-IS group, CRCs with high ITB had a significantly worse prognosis than those with low ITB ( = 0.021). However, there was no significant difference in prognosis between the high- and low-ITB groups in the high-IS group ( = 0.498). Taken together, high ITB was significantly correlated with aggressive tumor behaviors and worse survival in patients with CRCs. In addition, ITB can be useful for the prognostic stratification of CRCs with low IS.