Frequency of HLA A, B and C antigens in haematological malignancies in Jamaica - abstract

ABSTRACT

Our first paper on HLA showed the distribution of the HLA antigens in the Jamaican population and compared the gene frequencies obtained by other workers studying other racial groups. In this paper we use our first study as the basis for examination of disease associations. A flotation density method was used to separate lymphocytes from the peripheral blood of patients attending the University Hospital Haematology Clinic and HLA typing performed using the micro lymphocytotoxicity technique. One hundred and twenty-three patients with varying haematological malignancies were studied. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma - 70, multiple myeloma - 11, hodgkin's disease - 8, acute myeloid leukaemia - 3, Chronic myeloid leukaemia - 3, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia - 11, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia - 17. We were unable to show any significant association between any of the HLA antigens identified and the haematological malignancies studied. The possible link with the AýB12 haplotype that some workers have reported was not supported by our findings. The most prevalent antigens in this group were mostly the antigens found to be the most prevalent in the 'normal' study group. Of significance, however, were the high frequency of the Cw7 antigen in the myeloma patients and the fact that the Cw4 antigen was almost absent from this group although this antigen shows highest frequency for any antigen for any of the groups tested and is also very high frequency in the normal population. The small number (11) of myeloma patients in this study made it difficult to state a clear association. We look forward to a study of larger numbers of myeloma patients in order to investigate what appears to be an association (AU)