Fig. 1

Representative histological findings at the invasive front of tumor and distribution of tumor budding (TB) counts. a High TB. b Low TB. c Distribution of TB counts in the 78 patients. In the front of tumor with high TB, several single cells or clusters (white arrow) are detected (a). In contrast, there are few TB in the front of tumor with low TB (b). Thirty-one percent of patients (24/78) had tumor with TB counts ≥5 (c)