Intensity of tumor budding and its prognostic implications in invasive colon carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess the intensity of tumor budding in colon carcinoma quantitatively and to determine its correlation with malignancy potential.


METHODS
The intensities of tumor budding at the invasive front of surgical specimens from 174 patients with well-differentiated or moderately differentiated colon carcinoma were investigated. Differences in intensity among clinicopathologic parameters were compared, and recurrences and survivals were analyzed in accordance with degree of the intensity.


RESULTS
Tumor budding was identified in 155 patients (89 percent) and the mean intensity (+/- standard deviation) of budding was, on the whole, 6.6 +/- 5.6. Intensity was significantly higher in tumors with lymphatic and vascular invasion than in those without (9.1 +/- 6.6 vs. 4.8 +/- 3.9 and 9.8 +/- 6.1 vs. 5.4 +/- 4.9; P < 0.0001, respectively). It became significantly higher with increasing T and N stage (P = 0.0013 and < 0.0001, respectively). Both the Cox model and the linear logistic regression indicated that higher intensity was significantly associated with higher risk of postoperative recurrence (P = 0.017 and 0.0001, respectively). When patients were stratified into four groups based on the quartiles of the distribution of intensity, the group of higher quartiles showed significantly less favorable outcome in terms of both five-year disease-free (P = 0.0039) and overall survival (P = 0.0263). The cutoff of the intensity considered to be the best indicator for separating patients with regard to survival was third quartiles (intensity, 9). Based on multivariate analysis, the intensity of budding proved to be a significant covariate associated with disease-free survival (hazard ratio, 2.061; P = 0.0066).


CONCLUSIONS
The intensity of tumor budding at the invasive margin is suggested to be a significant pathologic index, indicating higher malignancy potential and the intensity greater than nine may be considered an adverse prognostic indicator in patients with colon carcinoma.
Park
Ki-Jae
KJ
Department of Surgery, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Pusan, South Korea.
Choi
Hong-Jo
HJ
Roh
Mee-Sook
MS
Kwon
Hyuk-Chan
HC
Kim
Choongrak
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000473:pathology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome