Esophageal cancer studies in the Caspian Littoral of Iran: introductive assessment of the HLA profile in patients and controls.

The possibility of an association between HLA profile and the probability of having esophageal cancer was explored among patients from different ethnic groups residing in the Caspian Littoral of Iran. A total of 151 esophageal cancer patients and 214 normal controls with ethnic affiliations similar to those of the patients were typed for HLA antigens. No statistically significant differences were found between patients and controls with regard to HLA antigens.