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.
