Expression profiling of budding cells in colorectal cancer reveals an EMT-like phenotype and molecular subtype switching.

Background: Tumour budding, described as the presence of single cells or small clusters of up to five tumour cells at the invasive margin, is established as a prognostic marker in colorectal carcinoma. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the molecular signature of tumour budding cells and the corresponding tumour bulk.

Methods: Tumour bulk and budding areas were microdissected and processed for RNA-sequencing.

Tumour budding in colorectal cancer: what do we know and what can we do?

Budding is a process during which individual or small clusters of up to five tumour cells detach from the main tumour mass and invade into the surrounding stroma. In colorectal cancer, this feature is observed in 20-40% of cases and is associated with lymphovascular invasion, lymph node and distant metastases, and poor prognosis. A variety of scoring systems for budding have been proposed but so far a gold standard is lacking, hampering implementation of a budding score in guidelines for pathological examination of colorectal cancer.

Expression of FOXP1 and Colorectal Cancer Prognosis.

Background: Forkhead box gene P1 (FOXP1) has proven to be a valuable prognostic biomarker in lymphomas, but little is known about this gene in colorectal cancer (CRC).

Objectives: To investigate the expression of FOXP1 in CRC and its potential associations with outcome in CRC.

Methods: We studied the expression pattern of FOXP1 retrospectively via immunohistochemistry in a series of 165 - CRC cases.

KRAS, NRAS, BRAF mutation comparison of endoscopic and surgically removed primary CRC paired samples: is endoscopy biopsy material adequate for molecular evaluation?

Background: An everyday clinical practice dilemma in the 20-30% of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients that have not been operated on their primary tumour, is, under which specific histopathology and molecular circumstances, an endoscopic biopsy could be considered adequate to provide a representative RAS/BRAF molecular status to guide treatment.

Methods: A consecutive series of 193 paired biopsy and primary CRC tumour samples between August 2008 and 2010 available in the Department of Pathology archives, University Hospitals, KU Leuven were retrieved. For a pair to be included, in the endoscopic biopsy, 20% of invasive adenocarcinoma cells should be present and enough slides to yield an extracted DNA concentration of ⩾5 ng μl(-1), and no <2 ng μl(-1) should be available for cutting.

Microsatellite instable vs stable colon carcinomas: analysis of tumour heterogeneity, inflammation and angiogenesis.

Background: Microsatellite instability (MSI) accounts for 15% of all colorectal tumours. Several specific clinicopathologicals (e.g.