HLA linked resistance factors and survival in acute myelogenous leukemia

The concept that HLA-linked immune response genes may influence survival of patients with malignant disease has been investigated by performing HLA typing on a series of 150 patients with acute myelogenous leukemia. Patients with A1 and B8 and/or A2 and B12 survival longer than patients without either of these pairs of antigens in association. However, after correction of the statistical probability for the number of A and B locus combinations theoretically possible, these differences are not statistically significant. Clarification of this must await independent analysis of other series and more direct approaches to the study of immune response genes in man.