Tumour budding and CD8 T cells: 'attackers' and 'defenders' in rectal cancer with and without neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

Aim: Tumour budding ('attacker') and CD8 T cells ('defender') are recognised as important parameters for risk stratification in colon cancers and, combined, may have an even stronger clinical impact. Here, we determine the value of tumour budding and CD8 in rectal cancer patients treated with/without neoadjuvant therapy.

Methods And Results: Using digital scans of all tumour slides/case, we analysed CD8 T cell counts in two patient cohorts: 45 neoadjuvantly treated and 47 primarily surgically treated (totalling n = 543 slides) after double-staining of the surgical resection specimen for pan-cytokeratin and CD8 .