HLA-B8 and HLA-A3 coexpressed with HLA-B8 are associated with a reduced risk of the development of chronic myeloid leukemia. The Chronic Leukemia Working Party of the EBMT.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is characterized by the chromosomal translocation t(9;22) resulting in the chimeric bcr-abl oncogene that encodes the P210 fusion protein, which contains a unique amino acid sequence. If peptides derived from the leukemia-specific part of P210 are expressed in HLA molecules on the cell membrane of leukemic cells, an immunological response may occur. Recent studies using synthetic peptides identical to the bcr-abl fusion region showed that some peptides are capable of binding to HLA-A3, -A11, and -B8 molecules. Cytotoxic T-cell responses have been induced against bcr-abl-derived synthetic peptides bound to HLA-A3 and -B8. We hypothesized that if antigen processing of the P210 fusion protein leads to presentation of peptides from the fusion region by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules in vivo, this may be reflected in a diminished incidence of CML in individuals expressing HLA-A3, -A11, or -B8. Consequently, lower frequencies of these antigens would be expected in patients with CML compared with unaffected individuals. A case-control study and a meta-analysis were performed to test this hypothesis. The multicenter case-control study compared patients with CML from the data base of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) with unaffected individuals from the registry of Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide. Patients and controls were matched per country. The meta-analysis consisted of five studies reported in the literature. The multicenter case-control study consisting of 1,899 patients and 512, 363 bone marrow donors as controls yielded odds ratios (ORs) of 0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.00) for HLA-A3, 1.16 (95% CI, 1.02 to 1.33) for HLA-A11, and an OR of 0.73 (95% CI, 0.65 to 0. 82) for HLA-B8. Coexpression of HLA-A3 and HLA-B8 gave an OR of 0.51 (95% CI, 0.40 to 0.67). This can be translated in a protective effect of 27% for HLA-B8, 10% for HLA-A3, and 49% protection for the combination of HLA-A3 and HLA-B8. The meta-analysis comprising 463 CML patients and 4,912 controls showed a 29% risk reduction for individuals expressing HLA-B8 (OR of 0.71; 95% CI, 0.52 to 0.97), but an OR of 1.19 (95% CI, 0.90 to 1.56) for HLA-A3 and an OR of 1. 09 (95% CI, 0.80 to 1.50) for HLA-A11. In conclusion, these results indicate that HLA-B8 expression, in particular when HLA-A3 is coexpressed, is associated with a diminished incidence of CML. A biological mechanism may be that presentation of bcr-abl breakpoint peptides in these HLA molecules can induce a protective immune response.