Evaluation of clinicopathologic significance of tumor budding in breast carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Tumor budding is defined as small cluster of tumor cells located at the invasive edge of tumor and was assumed to be linked with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which is an early event in metastasis. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate clinicopathologic significance of tumor budding in carcinoma breast and to correlate with other molecular subtypes of breast cancer.Method: We investigated 107 resected specimens of primary breast carcinoma. The number of foci (tumor budding) was counted in H&E slides under 100x magnification.Result: Patient was categorized as low (0-10 buds) and high (≥11 buds) tumor budding group based on the count of foci. High tumor budding shared significant positive correlation with lymph nodal status and lymphatic invasion (LVI) and does not correlate with tumor grade and tumor size.Conclusion: In conclusion, tumor budding in carcinoma breast is associated with undesirable pathologic factors, such as positive nodal status and lymphovascular invasion and may have supplementary independent prognostication value. In the future, standardized quantification criteria for tumor budding may further aid in its implementation as a prognostic marker.