The prognostic value of tumor budding in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The predictive value of tumor budding in several cancers is of the essence. The 5-year survival of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients is decreasing despite the improvement of therapy. In order to help improve the prognosis of LSCC patients, we aimed to investigate the value of tumor budding on the prognosis in laryngeal squamous cell cancer (LSCC) by the pathological characteristics of the surgical cases. METHODS: Archival clinical specimens of 51 patients diagnosed with LSCC were included in the research. On the basis of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained slides, tumor-stroma ratio (TSR), tumor budding and nuclear features were assessed. Correlation between clinical data and histologic characteristics was carried out using the Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards regression model, respectively. RESULTS: Total tumor budding was independent prognostic parameter of 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in LSCC. The evaluation of tumor budding can be as a part of the routine histopathological report in LSCC. CONCLUSIONS: Tumor budding can be an independent factor of prognosis of LSCC patients and should be as a part of routine histopathologic report for LSCC cases.