Decreased frequency of HLA-DRB113 alleles in frenchwomen [french women] with HPV-positive carcinoma of the cervix

Specific types of human papillomaviruses (HPV) are associated with most cases of pre-invasive and invasive neoplasia of the uterine cervix. HLA phenotype influences susceptibility and resistance to viral infections and may therefore influence the course of HPV-associated tumors. Some data suggest that specific HLA class-II alleles may be associated with protection from or susceptibility to papillomavirus-associated lesions, but these results are still controversial. Using molecular probes, we looked for associations between specific DQA1, DQB1, DRB1 HLA class-II alleles, HPV types and cervical cancer. The analysis was performed on a population of 126 patients with invasive cervical cancer. For HLA typing, 165 healthy individuals were taken as controls. The DRB1*1301/02 allele frequency significantly decreased in patients (11%) as compared to controls (29%). This difference in frequency was dependent on the HPV-positive status of tumors and was no longer significant in the group of HPV-negative lesions. The same trends were observed with the DRB1*1301/02-DQA1*0103-DQB1*0603 haplotype frequency. An increase in the frequency of the DRB1*1401/07 and DRB1*03 alleles was observed in patients under 40. Contrary to what has been reported in the literature, no increase in the DRB1*15 allele frequency was observed in our series and only a slight increase in the DQB1*03 frequency was found in patients (70%) compared to controls (58%). In our study, no positive correlations between cervical cancer in Frenchwomen and specific HLA DR-DQ haplotypes has been found. In contrast, a negative correlation between DRB1*1301/02 alleles and HPV-positive tumors has been observed. This may suggest a protective effect of DR13 against HPV-associated lesions of the cervix.