Tumor budding as a potential prognostic marker in determining the behavior of primary liver cancers

Figure 1 Tumor budding in primary liver cancers. A: Tumor budding consisting of small clusters of 4 or fewer tumor cells present at the invasive edge in a case of hepatocellular carcinoma; B: The main processes and mechanisms involved in tumor budding. EMT: Epithelial to mesenchymal transition; EpCAM: Epithelial cell adhesion molecule; CAFs: Cancer-associated fibroblasts; MMP: Matrix metalloproteinase; TRKB: Tyrosine kinase receptor B; u-PA: Urokinase plasminogen activator.