The prognostic value of tumor budding in invasive breast cancer

We investigated the prognostic value of tumor budding in 160 cases of operable invasive ductal carcinoma, not otherwise specified (IDC-NOS). The number of buds was counted in H&E slides with a maximal invasive margin in a 0.950 mm2 field of vision (200×). According to a cut-off score selected by ROC analysis, the cohort was dichotomized into a low (0–7 budding foci, 107 cases, 66.9%) and a high-grade budding group (8 or more budding foci, 53 cases, 33.1%). The inter-observer test showed a good reproducibility with 0.717 as the К value. High-grade budding was significantly associated with the presence of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (P = 0.001), larger tumor size (P = 0.014), and worse clinical outcome (P < 0.001). By immunohistochemical staining, budded cells at the margin displayed epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like molecular phenotype and decreased proliferative activity. Survival analyses revealed that tumor budding (HR 4.275, P < 0.001) together with tumor size (HR 2.468, P = 0.002), node status (HR 2.362, P < 0.001), and LVI status (HR 1.910, P = 0.035) was the independent prognostic factor in IDC-NOS. In conclusion, tumor budding is a reproducible, significant, and independent histopathological prognostic factor in IDC-NOS.