Exp Mol Med.  2001 Sep;33(3):136-144.

Alterations of HLA class I and II antigen expression in preinvasive, invasive and metastatic cervical cancers

• Ryu KS
• Lee YS
• Kim BK
• Park YG
• Kim YW
• Hur SY
• Kim TE
• Kim IK
• Kim JW

Abstract

HLA expression is altered in a large variety of human cancers. We performed immunohistochemical staining on tissues from normal, preinvasive, invasive and metastatic cervical cancer tissues using anti-HLA class I or class II antibody. In tissues from normal squamous epithelium, carcinoma in situ (CIS) and microinvasive carcinoma (MIC), the expressions of HLA-B, C heavy chains and class II heavy chain were significantly decreased as disease progressed. When the expression patterns were compared between primary and metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) lesions, statistically significant down-regulation of HLA class I and class II antigen in metastatic lesions was observed. The rates of HLA-B, C heavy chains and class II heavy chain expressions were all significantly down-regulated compared to the down-regulation rate of class I beta2-microglobulin (beta2m) in invasive squamous lesions, and the expressions of class II heavy chain in metastatic lesions was decreased further than that in primary lesions. Unlike SCC, the degree of HLA class I and class II loss was not evident as disease progressed in early stage of adenocarcinoma. In invasive adenocarcinoma lesions, only the expression of HLA-B, C heavy chains was decreased and no differences were seen in HLA-B, C heavy chain expression patterns between primary and metastatic lesions. These results suggest that alterations of HLA class I and II expressions seem to occur at a particular step in cervical cancer development and depend on tissue types: when the tumor becomes invasive and starts to metastasize.

Keyword

cervical cancer; HLA class I; HLA class II; IHS; metastasis

MeSH Terms

Antibodies, Monoclonal
Carcinoma in Situ/immunology/pathology/physiopathology
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/immunology/pathology/physiopathology
Cervix Neoplasms/*immunology/pathology/physiopathology
Disease Progression
Female
Genes, MHC Class I
Genes, MHC Class II
HLA Antigens/*analysis
HLA-B Antigens/analysis
Histocompatibility Antigens Class I/*analysis
Histocompatibility Antigens Class II/*analysis
Human
Immunohistochemistry
Neoplasm Invasiveness
Neoplasm Metastasis
Support, Non-U.S. Gov't