Loss of Human Leukocyte Antigen Class I Expression Is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer
Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine
;
: 75-85, 2019.
Article
in English
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-766015
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Human leukocyte antigen class I (HLA-I) molecules play important roles in regulating immune responses. Loss or reduction of HLA-I expression has been shown to be associated with prognosis in several cancers. Regulatory T-cells (Tregs) also play critical functions in immune response regulation. Evaluation of HLA-I expression status by the EMR8-5 antibody and its clinical impact in breast cancer have not been well studied, and its relationship with Tregs remains unclear.METHODS:
We evaluated HLA-I expression and Treg infiltration by immunohistochemistry in 465 surgically resected breast cancer samples. We examined the correlation between HLA-I expression and Treg infiltration and clinicopathologic characteristics and survival analyses were performed.RESULTS:
Total loss of HLA-I expression was found in 84 breast cancer samples (18.1%). Univariate survival analysis revealed that loss of HLA-I expression was significantly associated with worse disease-specific survival (DSS) (p = .029). HLA-I was not an independent prognostic factor in the entire patient group, but it was an adverse independent prognostic factor for DSS in patients with advanced disease (stage II–IV) (p = .031). Treg numbers were significantly higher in the intratumoral stroma of HLA-I–positive tumors than in HLA-I–negative tumors (median 6.3 cells/high power field vs 2.1 cells/high power field, p < .001). However, Tregs were not an independent prognostic factor in our cohort.CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings suggest that the loss of HLA-I expression is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer patients, highlighting the role of HLA-I alterations in immune evasion mechanisms of breast cancer. HLA-I could be a promising marker that enables the application of more effective and precise immunotherapies for patients with advanced breast cancer.
Full text:
Available
Index:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Main subject:
Prognosis
/
Breast
/
Breast Neoplasms
/
Immunohistochemistry
/
Cohort Studies
/
Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating
/
T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory
/
Immune Evasion
/
HLA Antigens
/
Immunotherapy
Type of study:
Etiology study
/
Incidence study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Risk factors
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine
Year:
2019
Type:
Article
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