title: Immunogenetic factors in mycosis fungoides: can the HLA system influence the susceptibility and prognosis of the disease? Long-term follow-up study of 46 patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mycosis fungoides (MF) is the most common and one of the least aggressive forms of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Several studies have demonstrated the influence of human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genes on the susceptibility of MF, highlighting the importance of certain alleles but, until today, no studies have evaluated the relationship between HLA alleles and the prognosis of patients with MF.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the polymorphism of HLA class I and class II alleles in a group of 46 MF Caucasian patients, looking for their influence in susceptibility and prognosis of the disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study population included a case-cohort sample of 46 Caucasian patients with MF that, between 1993 and 1997, underwent HLA class I and II genomic typing. All patients were diagnosed and followed up from 1977 to 2012 (mean follow-up of 11 years) and they were divided into three groups according to the evolution of the disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Molecular typing at low-resolution level revealed that HLA-A*24, A*68, A*69, B*35 and DQB1*05:02 alleles were involved in susceptibility to MF. Correspondence analysis underlined that long-lasting remission was characterized by HLA-A*24 and HLA-A*25 alleles, frequent relapse by HLA-DRB1*01, DQA1*01:01, DQB1*05:01 alleles and death by HLA-A*68, HLA-B*08, HLA-B*35, HLA-C*03 alleles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that the prognosis of MF patients is not only correlated with clinical/pathological/serological/immunological variables but it also relies on specific HLA alleles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical-Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Science, Institute of Dermatology, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brazzelli
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rivetti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Badulli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carugno
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Grasso
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Silvestri
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martinetti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Borroni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007125:Immunogenetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009182:Mycosis Fungoides / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens