This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Leleu, X. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Leleu, X.

Total Soluble HLA Class I and Soluble HLA-G in Multiple Myeloma and Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance

Authors' Affiliations: ¹ Service d'Hématologie, ² Laboratoire de Biochimie, Lille, France; ³ Department of Medical Oncology, Harvard Medical School; ⁴ Bing Program for Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia and Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts; ⁵ Laboratoire d'Hématologie et de Biologie des Cellules Sanguines, Rennes, France; ⁶ Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; ⁷ Laboratoire d'Hématologie, Institut Curie; ⁸ Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale U717, Hôpital St. Louis, Université Paris VII, Paris, France; and ⁹ Laboratoire d'Hématologie, Nantes, France

Requests for reprints: Thierry Facon, Service des Maladies du Sang, Hôpital Huriez, Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Lille, rue Michel Polonovski, 59037 Lille, France. Phone: 33-3-20-44-57-13; Fax: 33-3-20-44-47-08; E-mail: t-facon{at}chru-lille.fr.

Serum ß₂-microglobulin, the light chain of the HLA class I molecular complex, remains one of the best survival prognostic factors in multiple myeloma, but other HLA class I molecules might be of interest in monoclonal gammopathies. In this study, we evaluate total soluble HLA class I (HLA-Is) and soluble HLA-G (HLA-Gs) in 103 patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, 30 patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), and 30 healthy subjects, studying their prognostic value in multiple myeloma. In multiple myeloma patients, HLA-Is and HLA-Gs median values were 0.8 µg/mL and 28 ng/mL, respectively. Median HLA-Is concentration was higher in stage II and III multiple myeloma patients than in stage I multiple myeloma, MGUS, and control patients. Median HLA-Gs was significantly lower in healthy controls than in MGUS and multiple myeloma patients. A high level of HLA-Is (2.1 µg/mL) was predictive of short survival (P = 0.017). For each given level of ß₂-microglobulin, the relative risk of death was higher for patients with HLA-Is 2.1 µg/mL than in patients with a lower level (P = 0.047). HLA-Gs, a marker of monoclonal gammopathy, was of no prognostic value, but the addition of HLA-Is to ß₂-microglobulin produced an efficient prognostic score (P < 0.0001). HLA-Is is a new marker of multiple myeloma tumor load and provides additional survival prognostic information to ß₂-microglobulin.