title: Expression of human leukocyte antigen G is associated with prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) has multiple immune regulatory functions including the induction of immune tolerance in malignancies. The roles of HLA-G have not been investigated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This study is aimed to evaluate the role of HLA-G as prognostic factor for NPC patients as well as its role in the immune regulation. Western assays showed high HLA-G expression in NPC cell lines, but low in the immortalized nasopharyngeal epithelial cell line NP69. HLA-G protein was further detected in 79.2% of 552 NPC specimens with immunohistochemistry (IHC), but not in normal nasopharyngeal epithelium tissue. Moreover, high expression of HLA-G predicted poor survival of NPC patients and positively correlated with tumor N classification and recurrence or metastasis. Multivariate analysis indicated that HLA-G was an independent and unfavorable prognostic factor. Furthermore, the presence of CD68+ macrophages and IL-10 were also examined, which are two prognostic markers of NPC and important factors for regulating immune surveillance. The correlations of HLA-G with these two immune factors were revealed in NPC tissues. Taken together, our results suggest that HLA-G is an independent biomarker for NPC prognosis, and HLA-G might contribute to NPC progression, which might jointly regulate immune surveillance in NPC together with macrophages and IL-10.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Man-Bo
authors: MB
authors: Cai
authors: Hui-Qiong
authors: HQ
authors: Han
authors: Jin-Xin
authors: JX
authors: Bei
authors: Chao-Chun
authors: CC
authors: Liu
authors: Jin-Ju
authors: JJ
authors: Lei
authors: Qian
authors: Q
authors: Cui
authors: Qi-Sheng
authors: QS
authors: Feng
authors: Hai-Yun
authors: HY
authors: Wang
authors: Jia-Xing
authors: JX
authors: Zhang
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Liang
authors: Li-Zhen
authors: LZ
authors: Chen
authors: Tie-Bang
authors: TB
authors: Kang
authors: Jian-Yong
authors: JY
authors: Shao
authors: Yi-Xin
authors: YX
authors: Zeng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma; D005260:Female; D059951:HLA-G Antigens / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000378:metabolism; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D016753:Interleukin-10