Immune evasion through loss of MHC class I antigen presentation

Introduction: Cervical cancer is cancer of the lower part of the uterus. The etiology of cervical cancer itself is infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) which can be prevented by several diagnostic methods as well as the HPV vaccine. Therapy targeting programmed cell death 1/programmed death ligand 1 looks promising. However, success in some cancers has failed to produce a response. One mechanism that may inhibit the success of this immune is the loss or decrease in the expression of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I). Methods: This was an observational study with a cross-sectional design of immunohistochemical examination of MHC-I on blocks of cervical cancer tissue of Vina Estetika Hospital, Medan, and Dr. Djoelham Hospital, Binjai, from January to December 2021. Results: A total of 26 slides of cervical cancer patients aged 30–55 years were recruited. The slides examined were found to be squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (14 slides) and adenocarcinoma (12 slides) which were stained with MHC-I antibodies. The adenocarcinoma-type cervical cancer showed a decrease in MHC-I expression in 11 cases (42.4%), while the SCC type still found MHC-I expression with moderate-to-strong color intensity in 9 cases (34.6%). The Fisher’s exact test showed P = 0.005 (P < 0.05). Conclusion: There was a relationship between loss and decrease in MHC-I expression in cervical cancer histopathology, especially in the type of adenocarcinoma.