Classical and non-classical HLA class I aberrations in primary cervical squamous- and adenocarcinomas and paired lymph node metastases

• Published in: Journal for immunotherapy of cancer 2016-11, Vol.4 (1), p.78-78, Article 78
• Main Authors: Ferns, Debbie M., Heeren, A. Marijne, Samuels, Sanne, Bleeker, Maaike C. G., de Gruijl, Tanja D., Kenter, Gemma G., Jordanova, Ekaterina S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adenocarcinoma; Adenocarcinoma - genetics; Adenocarcinoma - mortality; Adenocarcinoma - pathology; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alleles; Analysis; Antigens; Biomarkers; Cancer; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - genetics; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - mortality; Care and treatment; Cervical cancer; Chemotherapy; Classical and non-classical HLA expression; Development and progression; Diagnosis; Female; Gene Expression; Genetic Variation; Gynecology; Health aspects; Histocompatibility antigens; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I - genetics; HLA histocompatibility antigens; Human papillomavirus; Humans; Immune system; Immunohistochemistry; Immunotherapy; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Lymphatic Metastasis; Metastasis; Metastatic lymph nodes; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Staging; Pathology; Patients; Primary tumor; Prognosis; Research Article; Squamous cell carcinoma; Survival analysis; Tumor Burden; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - genetics; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - mortality; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - pathology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2051-1426; 2051-1426
• DOI: 10.1186/s40425-016-0184-3

BackgroundTumors avoid destruction by cytotoxic T cells (CTL) and natural killer (NK) cells by downregulation of classical human leukocyte antigens (HLA) and overexpression of non-classical HLA. This is the first study to investigate HLA expression in relation to histology (squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) vs. adenocarcinoma (AC)), clinicopathological parameters and survival in a large cervical cancer patient cohort.MethodsClassical (HLA-A and HLA-B/C)- and non-classical HLA molecules (HLA-E and HLA-G) were studied on primary tumors and paired lymph node (LN) metastases from cervical cancer patients (n = 136) by immunohistochemistry. The Chi2 test was used for the comparison of clinicopathological characteristics between SCC and AC patients. The Related-Samples Wilcoxon Signed Rank test was used to compare HLA expression between the primary tumor and metastasis in LN. Patient survival rates were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier curves and Log Rank test. The Mann-Whitney U Test was used to compare the distribution of HLA class I expression between SCC and AC.ResultsDecreased expression of HLA-A (SCC P