title: HLA-B67 may be a male-specific HLA marker of susceptibility to relapsed childhood ALL in Hong Kong Chinese and HLA-A33 or HLA-B17 signifies a higher presentation leukocytosis: A retrospective analysis on 53 transplant candidates (1989-2003).
abstract: We performed a retrospective analysis on the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) data of 53 consecutive Chinese patients with high-risk childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) diagnosed from 1989 to 2003. A significantly higher frequency of HLA-B67 in the male relapse group of patients [OR, 23.08; 95% CI, 5.31-100.36; p = 0.0042; for statistical significance after Bonferroni correction (Bc) p (Bc) < 0.0083] was identified after Bonferroni correction. Although not surviving the Bonferroni correction, gender effects on the association were also observed with HLA-A11, HLA-A32, HLA-A33, and HLA-B22, which were however more prevalent in the female patients and particularly those developing relapse. Two patients with HLA-A29 and HLA-B7 revealed significantly shortened survivals, suggestive of their potential prognostic impacts. Notably, for the first time, we found a significant correlation of leukocyte count with HLA types, where HLA-A33 (p = 0.006) or HLA-B17 (p < 0.001) signifies higher leukocytosis at presentation. Taken together, our findings support the involvement of HLA in Chinese high-risk childhood ALL.
authors.affiliation: Hematology Section, Department of Anatomical & Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, NT, People's Republic of China. margaretng@cuhk.edu.hk
authors.forename: Margaret H L
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Hawkins
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Chik
authors.forename: Natalie P H
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.forename: Matthew M K
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Shing
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000097:blood*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007964:Leukocytosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; C082945:HLA-A*33 antigen; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; C037449:HLA-B17 antigen; C088036:HLA-B67 antigen