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

In rectal cancer, tumour budding has clinical relevance in both primarily surgically treated patients and in those with neoadjuvantly treated patients, where it characterises highly aggressive residual disease. CD8+ T cell counts appear not to have prognostic relevance in the neoadjuvant context.