HLA‐G expression correlates with histological grade but not with prognosis in colorectal carcinoma

Trophoblast‐specific expression of HLA‐G induces immune tolerance for the developing fetus. Pathological HLA‐G expression later in life might contribute to immune escape of various cancers. We studied the still controversial role of HLA‐G in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) using the MEM‐G/1 antibody and a tissue microarray series of CRC tumors (n = 317). HLA‐G expression appeared in 20% of the tumors and showed high intratumoral heterogeneity. HLA‐G positivity was associated with better differentiation (p = 0.002) and non‐mucinous histology (p = 0.008). However, HLA‐G expression alone showed no prognostic value: 5‐years disease‐specific survival among patients with HLA‐G expression was 68.9% (95% CI: 62.7%–75.0%) compared to 74.8% (95% CI: 63.2%–86.3%) among those without expression. These results support a modulatory role of HLA‐G in CRC.

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