Invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix: is HLA-DQ a disease marker in Jewish patients?

HLA class I and class II were investigated in 30 Israeli patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix and compared to healthy controls. None of the studied serological specificities were found to be associated with the disease. Genomic DNA from the patients was amplified by PCR, dot-blotted and hybridized with sequence specific oligonucleotide probes defining the known DQA1 and DQB1 allelic variants. Fifteen out of the 30 patients tested (50%) were found to carry the DQA1*0501 allelic variant, which is common in the local healthy population (67%). DQB1*0302 was found in eight out of 30 patients (27%) while this allele was present in 17% of the healthy population, a difference which is not statistically significant. Our data indicate that there is no apparent association between invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix and the HLA antigens and alleles studied including the alleles of the DQA and DQB loci in the Israeli population. Our findings indicate that MHC genes could not be useful in the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix.