1993 Volume 2 Issue 1 Pages 95-99,81
We investigated whether HLA antigens could act as predictors of the response to therapy in gastric cancer.
The microcytotoxicity assay was used to examine HLA antigens of the A, B, and C loci in 429 patients who underwent gastric cancer resection. HLA antigens were then divided four categories after quantifying the response pattern. To evaluate the prognostic factors, multivariate analysis using Cox's model was performed in 321 patients using seven variables: sex, age, pTNM stage, postoperative adjuvant therapy, HLA category, and the association of HLA category with the response to postoperative therapy. Patients received either gastrectomy alone, gastrectomy plus chemotherapy, or gastrectomy plus PSK ± chemotherapy. The Cox's analysis indicated that HLA Category 4 patients receiving PSK ± chemotherapy had a better prognosis than those of HLA categories 1, 3, and 4 receiving gastrectomy alone or those of HLA category 1 receiving chemotherapy after gastrectomy.
These results suggest that HLA antigen status can predict the response to therapy and that rational individualized therapy for cancer patients may possibly be designed in the future by evaluating HLA antigens.
