Abstract

Objective

Human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) is a non-classical HLA class I molecule involved in inducing tolerance at the feto-maternal interface and in escape of immune response by tumor cells. The aim of the study is to review the published literature on the expression of HLA-G in malignant melanomas and its clinicopathological and prognostic correlates.

Methods

A systematic search was carried out in electronic databases. Studies dealing with HLA-G expression in surgically-removed human samples were retrieved and analyzed.

Results

Of 1737 retrieved articles, 16 were included. The main themes regarded HLA-G expression in malignant melanocytic lesions, assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC), soluble or molecular techniques, and its relationship with clinicopathological features, such as tumor thickness and malignant behavior. Overall significant HLA-G expression was found in 460/843 tumors (55%), and specifically in 251/556 melanomas (45%) evaluated with IHC, in 208/250 cases (83%) examined with soluble methods and in 13/23 melanoma lesions (57%) tested with polymerase chain reaction. Despite the correlation with parameters indicating an aggressive behavior, no studies demonstrated any prognostic value of HLA-G expression. Furthermore, uveal melanomas were constantly negative for this biomarker.

Conclusion

Overall, published data indicate that while HLA-G is involved in the interactions between melanomas and the immune system, it is unlikely to be the only factor to play such a role, therefore making it difficult to designate it as a prognostically relevant molecule. Evidence further suggests that HLA-G is not implicated in the immunobiology of uveal melanomas.

中文翻译：

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HLA-G在黑色素瘤中的表达

摘要

目的

人白细胞抗原G（HLA-G）是一种非经典的HLA I类分子，参与诱导胎儿-母亲界面的耐受性以及肿瘤细胞逃避免疫反应。该研究的目的是回顾有关恶性黑色素瘤中HLA-G表达及其临床病理和预后相关性的文献。

方法

在电子数据库中进行了系统的搜索。检索并分析了通过手术切除的人类样品中HLA-G表达的研究。

结果

在检索到的1737篇文章中，其中包括16篇。主要主题考虑了HLA-G在恶性黑素细胞病变中的表达，通过免疫组织化学（IHC），可溶性或分子技术进行了评估，及其与临床病理特征（如肿瘤厚度和恶性行为）的关系。在460/843个肿瘤（55％）中，特别是在用IHC评估的251/556黑色素瘤（45％），208/250例（83％）用可溶性方法检查的肿瘤中和13 /用聚合酶链反应测试了23个黑色素瘤病变（57％）。尽管与指示侵略行为的参数相关，但没有研究显示HLA-G表达具有任何预后价值。此外，葡萄膜黑色素瘤对该生物标志物一直是阴性的。

结论

总体而言，已发表的数据表明，尽管HLA-G参与了黑色素瘤与免疫系统之间的相互作用，但它不可能是发挥这种作用的唯一因素，因此很难将其指定为与预后相关的分子。证据进一步表明，HLA-G与葡萄膜黑色素瘤的免疫生物学无关。