Focus on the frequencies of serological HLA antigens in 4,094 Japanese people

Abstract

Between 1987 and 2005 we performed serological HLA typing in 4,094 Japanese people to evaluate the frequencies of HLA antigens among cancer patients, non-cancer patients and normal subjects. Among these cancer patients compared with non-cancer and normal patients, there were significantly lower frequencies for HLA-24, -A33, -B35, -B44, -DR8, and -DR9, but there was only one significantly lower frequency for HLA-DR8, even after the Bonferroni correction. In cases of gastric cancer, there was a significantly lower frequency for HLA-A33 and -B44 than among non-cancer subjects, even after the Bonferroni correction. In cases of esophageal cancer, significantly lower frequencies for HLA-A33, -B44, -DR6, -DR8, and -DQ4 were found. In cases of hepatoma, the frequency of HLA-DQ3 was significantly lower. In lung cancer, HLA-DR8 and DQ4, and in breast cancer, HLA-Cw3, -DR8, and -DR9 were also significantly lower after the Bonferroni correction. The data demonstrated here shows that there may be an association between different cancers and different antigens. The frequencies of HLA-A33, -B44, -Cw3, -DR6, -DR8, -DR9 and -DQ4 antigens were lower in total; therefore, these antigens may act as defensive factors of carcinogenesis.