title: Human leukocyte antigen-G overexpression predicts poor clinical outcomes in low-grade gliomas.
abstract: Overexpression of human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G), a non-classical major histocompatibility complex class-I molecule associated with immunosuppression, has been reported in various human malignancies. In the present study, we examined the role of HLA-G in gliomas. Clinical characteristics, mRNA expression microarrays and follow-up data pertaining to 293 patients with histologically confirmed gliomas were analyzed. The expression levels of HLA-G were compared between different grades of gliomas and correlated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) to evaluate its prognostic value. We found that HLA-G was overexpressed in gliomas as compared to that in normal brain tissue samples (-1.288±0.265). The highest expression levels were in glioblastomas (GBMs), anaplastic gliomas (AGs) and low-grade gliomas (LGGs), in that order (0.328±0.778, 0.176±0.881, -0.388±0.686, respectively). Significant inter-group differences were observed between low-grade and high-grade glioma tissues (p<0.001 and p<0.001, t-test, AGs and GBMs, respectively). More astrocytoma patients exhibited increased HLA-G expression as compared to other LGG patients (p=0.004, Chi-square test). Significant differences were observed with respect to PFS and OS (p=0.009 and 0.032, log-rank test, for PFS and OS, respectively) between the high- and low-expression subgroups in patients with LGGs. On Cox regression analysis, overexpression of HLA-G appeared to be an independent predictor of clinical outcomes (p=0.007 and 0.026, for PFS and OS, respectively). Our results suggest that HLA-G expression may serve as a potential biomarker for predicting aggressive tumor grades of gliomas and for histological subtype of LGGs. Elevated HLA-G expression could serve as an independent predictor of poor clinical outcomes in patients with low-grade gliomas.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yinyan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Chuanbao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zenghui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Department of Clinical Oncology, Beijing Academy of Critical Illness in Brain, Beijing 100069, China. Electronic address: taojiang1964@163.com.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005910:Glioma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D059951:HLA-G Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: Clinical outcome; Glioma; Human leukocyte antigen-G