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Human leukocyte antigen‐G expression is associated with a poor prognosis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
Lin Aifen,
Zhang Xia,
Zhou WenJun,
Ruan YanYun,
Xu DanPing,
Wang Qing,
Yan WeiHua
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.25807
Subject(s) - human leukocyte antigen , medicine , biomarker , receiver operating characteristic , immunohistochemistry , antigen , carcinoma , immune system , hla g , stage (stratigraphy) , clinical significance , esophageal squamous cell carcinoma , cell , gastroenterology , pathology , immunology , biology , paleontology , biochemistry , genetics
Human leukocyte antigen ( HLA)‐G inhibits functions of immune component cells and promotes malignant cells evading from antitumor immunity. We investigated the clinical relevance of HLA‐G expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). In our study, HLA‐G expression in 79 primary ESCC lesions and corresponding adjacent normal tissues were analyzed with immunohistochemistry. Soluble HLA‐G (sHLA‐G) in plasma was detected with enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 41 ESCC patients (including 19 case‐matched lesions and plasma samples) and in 153 normal healthy controls. HLA‐G expression was observed in 65.8% (52/79) of the ESCC lesions but not in adjacent normal esophageal tissues. HLA‐G expression was more frequently observed in patients with advanced disease stage (III/IV vs. I/II, p = 0.01). Patients with HLA‐G expression had a significantly worse survival, and HLA‐G could be an independent prognostic factor. sHLA‐G levels in plasma were significantly increased in patients compared to normal controls (median: 152.4 U/ml vs . 8.9 U/ml, p < 0.001). The area under receiver‐operating characteristic (ROC) curve for sHLA‐G in plasma was 0.992. However, no significant correlation was found between sHLA‐G in plasma and clinical parameters studied. In conclusion, our findings indicated that HLA‐G expression in ESCC is associated with poor survival and could be a prognostic indicator. Furthermore, increased levels of sHLA‐G in plasma might be a useful preoperative biomarker for diagnosis.