Loss of A, B, and H antigens in oral cancer

BIONDI C; CAMPI C; ESCOVICH L; RACCA A; GARCÍA BORRÁS S; COTORRUELO C

Inmunología

EDICIONES DOYMA S A

Lugar: Barcelona; Año: 2008 vol. 27 p. 1 - 5

0213-9626

In most human carcinomas, including oral carcinoma, a significant event is decreased expression of histo-blood-group antigens A, B and H. The mechanisms of aberrant expression of blood-group antigens are not clear in all cases. The aim of this work was to investigate the association of ABO blood groups with oral cancer. We studied the expression of ABH antigen in tissues of premalignant lesions and in diagnosed malignant tumors. In total, 132 patients were examined, half of whom suffered from oral pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions, while the other half were the control group (benign lesions). All tumors were histologically confirmed. We found a significant relationship between antigen expression and the malignancy of the lesions analyzed (P Yates= 0.005). A loss of ABH reactivity within the most invasive sites of the tumors correlated significantly with the stage of tumor development and histological grade of malignancy. These findings support the view that features regarding the cells of deeper parts of the carcinomas are very important for the clinical behavior of the tumors and that loss of ABH-antigen expression is linked to the stage of the tumor and invasion of carcinoma cells.