INVESTIGATION OF HLA GENES, HLA MOLECULES AND OTHER FACTORS IN PATIENTS WITH ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA

Major histocompatibility complex class I-related chain A (MICA) is a ligand of Natural killer group 2, member D (NKG2D) receptor. Recent studies have shown that MICA is upregulated in tumours from the epithelial origin, playing a key role in immunological surveillance and different alleles are associated with diseases related to NK activity. The aim of our study was to analyse the associations of MICA polymorphism with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Twenty-seven patients with histologically proven OSCC were included in the study. The majority of patients had G2-G3 tumours according to Anneroth's classification. The control group included healthy subjects from the Bulgarian population. MICA genotyping was performed by PCR-SSO kit (LABType SSO MICA, OneLambda) and PCR-SBT. Our results showed a statistically significant protective association for MICA*12:01 allele (Pc