PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - GOERDT, LUKAS
AU  - STEFANOVIC, ALEKSANDRA
AU  - WIRTZ, RALPH
AU  - KARIC, UROS
AU  - DEUTSCH, THOMAS M.
AU  - KOHLER, MAXIMILIAN
AU  - SCHNEEWEISS, ANDREAS
AU  - SÜTTERLIN, MARC
AU  - STEFANOVIC, STEFAN
AU  - HOFMANN, JAN
AU  - WALLWIENER, MARKUS
TI  - Correlation of HLA-A and HLA-B/C Expression With ESR1 Expression in Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer as a Potential Prognosticator of Favorable Distant Disease-free Survival
AID  - 10.21873/anticanres.17433
DP  - 2025 Feb 01
TA  - Anticancer Research
PG  - 445--450
VI  - 45
IP  - 2
4099  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/45/2/445.short
4100  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/45/2/445.full
SO  - Anticancer Res2025 Feb 01; 45
AB  - Background/Aim: The loss of breast cancer cell differentiation during metastatic progression leads to a down-regulation of class 1 human leukocyte antigen (HLA) expression, which in turn hinders cytotoxic T lymphocytes from effectively preventing tumor cell proliferation. Consequently, one would expect that decreased HLA expression would correlate with decreased 5-year survival. However, estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1) is known to be positively associated with overall survival. The study aimed to determine the expression levels of HLA-A, HLA-B/C, and ESR1 and to assess their influence on distant disease-free survival (DDFS). Materials and Methods: This retrospective subgroup analysis of the initial prospective, single-center, double-blind cohort study included a total of 34 patients who underwent a new treatment line for metastatic breast cancer (MBC). The MBC cells were examined using RT-qPCR. Results: The acquired data and the subsequent survival and ROC analyses indicated a positive association of reduced expression of HLA-A and HLA-B/C with DDFS. A statistically significant association of ESR1 with DDFS could not be shown. Conclusion: A potential positive association between reduced expression of HLA-A and HLA-B/C and DDFS is observed. This contrasts with the generally observed association between HLA expression loss and poor prognosis, as reported in previous protein-based studies. In metastatic settings, reduced expression of particular HLA subsets, measured at the mRNA level, might have a protective effect against disease progression.