Heterogeneity of HLA and EBER expression in Epstein-Barr virus-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Affiliation
Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Christie Hospital, Manchester, United Kingdom.Issue Date
2000-12-15
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an aggressive tumour of multifactorial aetiology that, although rare in most parts of the world, poses a significant mortality problem in its high incidence area of Southern China. Improved therapies are an urgent requirement and, towards this end, immunotherapeutic methods are being developed in several centres. Such strategies are dependent on the immune competence of the target tumour, in particular its expression of HLA class-I. We examined HLA class-I and -II expression in 27 primary NPC biopsies and found that 15% were extensively down-regulated for class-I expression with the majority of tumour cells appearing negative. Whilst HLA class-II was expressed at high levels in the majority of tumours, 37% showed substantial down-regulation. NPC is associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Expression of the virus-encoded EBER RNAs is accepted as a marker of EBV latency and is regarded as a valuable diagnostic criterion. EBER RNAs were expressed in all samples, but in some the level was remarkably heterogeneous, being barely detectable in many tumour cells. Our study reinforces the concept of extensive phenotypic variation in NPC. There are morphological differences between tumour cells. Some tumours express HLA class-I and/or -II, whilst others are down-regulated or negative. Individual tumours may or may not express the EBV-encoded LMP-1 protein, and individual tumour cells may express high levels of EBER, yet adjacent tumour cells express very little or none.Citation
Heterogeneity of HLA and EBER expression in Epstein-Barr virus-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma. 2000, 88 (6):949-55 Int. J. CancerJournal
International Journal of CancerDOI
10.1002/1097-0215(20001215)88:6<949::AID-IJC18>3.0.CO;2-6PubMed ID
11093820Type
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
0020-7136ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/1097-0215(20001215)88:6<949::AID-IJC18>3.0.CO;2-6
Scopus Count
Collections
Related articles
- Beta 2-microglobulin and HLA-DR expression in relation to the presence of Epstein-Barr virus in nasopharyngeal carcinomas.
- Authors: Kouvidou C, Rontogianni D, Tzardi M, Datseris G, Panayiotides I, Darivianaki K, Karidi E, Delides G, Kanavaros P
- Issue date: 1995
- Expression of immune-related molecules in primary EBV-positive Chinese nasopharyngeal carcinoma: associated with latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) expression.
- Authors: Li J, Zhang XS, Xie D, Deng HX, Gao YF, Chen QY, Huang WL, Masucci MG, Zeng YX
- Issue date: 2007 Dec
- Molecular pathology parameters in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
- Authors: Shi W, Pataki I, MacMillan C, Pintilie M, Payne D, O'Sullivan B, Cummings BJ, Warde P, Liu FF
- Issue date: 2002 Apr 1
- Prevalence and relevance of EBV latency in nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Israel.
- Authors: Bar-Sela G, Kuten A, Minkov I, Gov-Ari E, Ben-Izhak O
- Issue date: 2004 Mar
- A20 RNA expression is associated with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma and poorly differentiated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
- Authors: Codd JD, Salisbury JR, Packham G, Nicholson LJ
- Issue date: 1999 Apr