HLA-B alleles and nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Xinjiang, China：relationship and clinical significance / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the relationship between HLA?B allele polymorphisms and nasopharyngeal carcinoma ( NPC) in Xinjiang, China and its clinical significance. Methods A total of 226 patients were assigned to NPC group, while 207 healthy volunteers were assigned to control group. PCR amplification with sequence?specific primers was used to determine HLA?B alleles. Comparison of HLA?B allele frequency between the above two groups, between Han and Uygur populations, and between patients with various clinical characteristics of NPC was made by chi?square test. The Kaplan?Meier method was used to calculate the survival rates and the log?rank univariate analysis was used to explore the relationship between survival rates and HLA?B allele frequency. Results In all the subjects or Han population alone, the allele frequency of HLA?B?46 in the NPC group was significantly higher than that in the control group ( P=0. 000;P=0. 000 ) . In Uygur population, however, there was no significant difference in the allele frequency of HLA?B?46 between the NPC group and the control group (P>0. 05). In the patients with NPC, those less than 30 years old had a significantly higher allele frequency of HLA?B?44 than those no less than 30 years old (P=0. 029);those with differentiated non?keratinizing carcinoma had a significantly higher allele frequency of HLA?B?48 than those with undifferentiated non?keratinizing carcinoma ( P=0. 029);those with stage T1+T2 disease had a significantly higher allele frequency of HLA?B?48 than those with stage T3+T4 disease ( P=0. 029) . The 5?year overall survival, disease?free survival, distant metastasis?free survival, and local relapse?free survival rates had no relationship with the expression of HLA?B?46, HLA?B?44, or HLA?B?48 in NPC patients ( all P>0. 05) . Conclusions HLA?B?46 allele is probably a NPC susceptibility gene in Han population in Xinjiang. HLA?B?44 is probably associated with early age of onset, while HLA?B?48 is probably associated with the pathological type and T stage of NPC. Therefore, HLA?B alleles are probably associated with the development and progression of NPC.