Biological-clinical significance of selective loss of HLA-class-I allelic product expression in squamous-cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix.
To determine possible correlations between the selective loss of HLA-class-I allelic forms on neoplastic cells and their biological-clinical characteristics, 89 squamous-cell carcinomas of the uterine cervix were evaluated immunohistochemically using monomorphic and polymorphic antibodies against HLA-A, -B, and -C molecules and analyzed clinico-pathologically. Four of the carcinomas exhibited a lack of detectable class-I heavy-chain expression associated with beta 2-microglobulin. In 19 of 42 HLA-A2-positive patients, tumor cells revealed loss of the HLA-A2 allelic product. Loss of HLA-B7 and/or 40 (B7/40) allelic product(s) on tumor cells was observed in 12 of 25 HLA-B7/40-positive cases. These alterations did not correlate with patient age, clinical stage (FIGO) of the disease, histological sub-type (WHO) or depth of cervical invasion. However, a statistically significant correlation was observed between lymph-node metastases and selective loss of HLA-B7/40 allelic product(s), but not with HLA-A2 allelic product on cancer cells of the primary lesion. Our results indicate that selective loss of certain HLA-class-I alleles on neoplastic cells can influence the nodal metastatic potential and suggest that these 2 class-I molecules may have different immune functions as restriction elements in T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity.
Honma
S
S
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Niigata University School of Medicine, Japan.
Tsukada
S
S
Honda
S
S
Nakamura
M
M
Takakuwa
K
K
Maruhashi
T
T
Kodama
S
S
Kanazawa
K
K
Takahashi
T
T
Tanaka
K
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*
D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I