title: The value of HLA phenotypes in the prognosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma.
abstract: The study included 52 patients with Hodgkin's disease, 32 males and 20 females, whose ages ranged from 3 to 36 years (34 under and 18 over 15 years). All patients were carefully staged, and lymph-node biopsies were taken for histopathological examination. HLA phenotype determinations were carried out, and the frequencies were statistically compared with those of normal Egyptian controls. We followed the patients for 3 years to monitor the effect of therapy. In order to determine the prognostic value of patients' characteristics (age, stage, histologic pattern and HLA phenotypes), statistical analysis and retrospective stratification studies were performed. The frequency of HLA-AI was significantly increased in our patients. The relative risk showed that persons carrying the AI antigen are 6 times more susceptible than those lacking it. There was no significant difference in the frequency of AI antigen in relation to the histopathologic subtypes. Furthermore, the results revealed a prognostic value of the HLA marker. In conclusion, we suggest that chemotherapy should be added to radiotherapy of marker-positive patients at any stage.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010641:Phenotype; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens