The prognostic value of tumour budding for survival in stage II and III colorectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Routine tumor budding assessment during colorectal cancer pathology could identify patients at higher risk who benefit most from added chemotherapy.
This large meta-analysis (n=17,831 across 43 studies) robustly confirms that high-grade tumour budding independently predicts poor disease-free, overall, and cancer-specific survival in both stage II and stage III colorectal cancer. The consistent and large hazard ratios support incorporating routine tumour budding assessment into histopathological risk stratification to guide adjuvant therapy decisions.
What the study was
- Study design
- Systematic review and meta-analysis (43 studies)
- Population
- Stage II-III colorectal cancer patients
- Sample size
- 17831
- Category
- Diagnostics
- Maturity
- Validated
- Journal
- Histopathology
Why it surfaced
Largest meta-analysis to date on tumour budding as CRC prognostic biomarker (n=17,831); HR magnitudes (2.4-3.4) are large and consistent across both stage II and III disease, supporting routine adoption in histopathological risk assessment and adjuvant therapy decisions.
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