Department of Surgical Oncology, Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Kagoshima University School of Medicine, Japan.
BMC Cancer. 2011 Oct 20;11:454. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-11-454.
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-class I molecules on tumor cells have been regarded as crucial sites where cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) can recognize tumor-specific antigens and are strongly associated with anti-tumor activity. However, the clinical impact of HLA class I expression in breast cancer has not been clarified.
A total of 212 breast cancer patients who received curative surgery from 1993 to 2003 were enrolled in the current study. HLA class I expression was examined immunohistochemically using an anti-HLA class I monoclonal antibody. The correlation between HLA class I positivity and clinical factors was analyzed.
The downregulation of HLA class I expression in breast cancer was observed in 69 patients (32.5%). HLA class I downregulation was significantly associated with nodal involvement (p < 0.05), TNM stage (p < 0.05), lymphatic invasion (p < 0.01), and venous invasion (p < 0.05). Patients with preserved HLA class I had significantly better disease-free interval (DFI) than those with loss of HLA class I (p < 0.05). However, in multivariable analysis, HLA class I was not selected as one of the independent prognostic factors of disease-free interval.
The examination of HLA class I expression is useful for the prediction of tumor progression and recurrent risk of breast cancer via the antitumor immune system.
肿瘤细胞表面的人类白细胞抗原（HLA）-I 类分子被认为是细胞毒性 T 淋巴细胞（CTL）识别肿瘤特异性抗原的关键部位，与抗肿瘤活性密切相关。然而，HLA I 类分子在乳腺癌中的临床意义尚未阐明。
本研究共纳入 212 例 1993 年至 2003 年接受根治性手术的乳腺癌患者。采用 HLA I 类单克隆抗体的免疫组织化学方法检测 HLA I 类分子的表达。分析 HLA I 类阳性与临床因素的相关性。
在 69 例（32.5%）乳腺癌中观察到 HLA I 类表达下调。HLA I 类表达下调与淋巴结受累（p<0.05）、TNM 分期（p<0.05）、淋巴血管侵犯（p<0.01）和静脉侵犯（p<0.05）显著相关。HLA I 类保留的患者无病间隔（DFS）显著长于 HLA I 类缺失的患者（p<0.05）。然而，多变量分析并未选择 HLA I 类作为 DFS 的独立预后因素之一。
通过抗肿瘤免疫系统，HLA I 类分子表达的检测有助于预测乳腺癌的肿瘤进展和复发风险。
