[DNA content analysis and expression of human leucocyte antigen on esophageal cancer]

To examine the usefulness of DNA analysis of cancer cells in estimating the prognosis of the patients with cancer, we measured the DNA content of cancer cells using flow cytometry in 82 patients bearing esophageal cancer. Although neither DNA content nor DNA ploidy alone was a prognostic factor, the aneuploid pattern with a DNA index greater than 1.3 was an indicator of poor prognosis. In addition, we studied the HLA class I expression in the same patient group using immunochemical staining (anti-HLA class I monoclonal antibody; w6/32). Forty-four cases (53.7%) were HLA class I positive and 38 (46.3%) were negative. Pathological lymph node metastasis was found more frequently in HLA class I negative patients than positive patients with statistical significance (p < 0.05). The tumors with positive HLA expression induced significantly more TILs around them (p < 0.05). The patients with the aneuploid pattern and negative HLA class I appeared to have the poorest prognosis from the survival curve study, although the difference was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that the expression of HLA class I on tumors is an important prognostic factor in patients with esophageal cancer.