Human leukocyte antigen G is associated with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma progression and poor prognosis.
Human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) is a non-classical HLA class I molecule thought to play a key role in maternal-fetal tolerance and cancer immune evasion. This study aimed to investigate the HLA-G expression in lesion sections and plasma sHLA-G levels of primary esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients and its clinical significance in diagnosis and prognosis of ESCC. 60 ESCC patients and 28 healthy controls were recruited, and the positive expression of HLA-G in ESCC lesions and adjacent normal tissues were 70% (42/60) and 8.6% (5/60) (P<0.05), respectively, while no expression was found in normal controls. HLA-G1 and HLA-G5 were determined to be dominating isoforms measured by RT-PCR. There was a significant difference in plasma sHLA-G levels between patients with ESCC (15.04 U/ml, range 4.33-250.00 U/ml) and healthy controls (6.81 U/ml, range 0-29.27 U/ml) (P<0.01). The plasma IL-10 level was higher in ESCC patients than the controls (23.86 pg/ml vs. 12.81 pg/ml, P<0.01). HLA-G expression in lesion tissues was correlated with cancer cell differentiation (P=0.033), lymph node metastasis (P=0.035) of ESCC. However, no obvious correlations were demonstrated between the plasma sHLA-G levels and the clinicopathological parameters. There was a significant correlation between sHLA-G and IL-10 expression (r=0.353, P=0.006) in patients with Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. HLA-G positive expression showed poorer prognosis of ESCC. HLA-G positive expression might serve as a potential marker in the diagnosis or prediction of ESCC.
State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China.
Jianyong
J
Zheng
State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China.
Chunsheng
C
Xu
State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China.
Dake
D
Chu
State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China.
Xiaoying
X
Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China.
Jipeng
J
Li
State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China.
Gang
G
Ji
State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China.
Liu
L
Hong
State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China.
Quanxin
Q
Feng
State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China.
Xiaohua
X
Li
State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China.
Guosheng
G
Wu
State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China.
Jianjun
J
Du
State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China. Electronic address: zhaoqchuan@163.com.
Qingchuan
Q
Zhao
D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D000077277:Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; D005260:Female; D059951:HLA-G Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012372:ROC Curve
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016753:Interleukin-10
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; HLA-G; IL-10, Clinicopathological parameters; Prognosis