A CLINICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGIC-STUDY OF HUMAN-LEUKOCYTE ANTIGEN-DPB ALLELES IN HODGKINS-DISEASE

An international study to investigate the role of human leukocyte anti gen (HLA)-DPB alleles in Hodgkin's disease was conducted with 17 parti cipating centers in 12 countries. A total of 741 patients and 686 cont rols were typed using polymerase chain reaction amplification of HLA-D PB alleles and subsequent sequence specific oligonucleotide hybridizat ion. The frequency of HLA-DPB10301 was found to be significantly incr eased in white patients, compared with ethnically matched controls. In this population group, the DPB10301 allele is associated with a rela tive risk of 1.95 (P < 0.01). There was also a significant reduction i n the frequency of HLA-DPB10401 in patients from Japan and Taiwan (re lative risk, 0.15; P < 0.01). Clinical analysis from data on 551 patie nts demonstrated a significantly inferior remission duration in patien ts with HLA-DPBI0901, overall (P < 0.05), and in the Japanese and Tai wanese populations (P = 0.02), where this allele is most prevalent. Th is analysis suggests an epidemiological as well as a possible prognost ic association between HLA-DPB alleles and Hodgkin's disease.