title: HLA-class I expression in gastric cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the clinical impact of HLA-class I tumor cells in gastric cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  HLA-class I expression was immunohistochemically evaluated in specimens from 141 gastric cancer patients. The correlation between HLA-class I expression and clinical factors was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HLA-class I was identified in 96 (68.1%) gastric carcinomas. The loss of HLA-class I significantly correlated with the depth of invasion (P < 0.01), nodal involvement (P < 0.05) and tumor histology (P < 0.01). According to the positivity of HLA-class I, shallow depth and the absence of nodal metastasis increased. HLA-class I expression was a significant prognostic factor in gastric cancer (P < 0.02); however, HLA-class I was not an independent prognostic factor by multivariate analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data may suggest that loss of HLA-class I in gastric cancer did not directly reflect immunological escape from tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes, unlike in other cancers.
authors.affiliation: Digestive Surgery Surgical Oncology, Kagoshima University School of Medicine, Kagoshima, Japan. ishiga@m.kufm.kagoshima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Sumiya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishigami
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Natsugoe
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakajo
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arigami
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kitazono
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okumura
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Yasuto
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Uchikado
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Setoyama
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aikou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D005805:Genes, MHC Class I / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*