HLA-B alleles and nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Xinjiang, China: relationship and clinical significance

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. Key words: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; HLA-B gene; Clinic characteristics; Prognosis