A comparison of cancer stem cell markers and nonclassical major histocompatibility complex antigens in colorectal tumor and noncancerous tissues
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Date
2016
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Abstract
Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is one of the most fatal types of cancer in both women and men, and, unfortunately, patients are often diagnosed at an advanced stage. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are associated with poor prognosis, metastasis, and recurrence, as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy resistance. Therefore, different treatment alternatives are needed to facilitate the elimination of CSCs. One such approach is immunotherapy; however, tumor cells can evade immune cells by alteration of the expression patterns of human leukocyte antigens (HLA). In this study, we immunohistochemically investigated the expression patterns of CSC-specific markers CD44, CD133, Nanog, and Oct3/4, and immunosuppressive molecules HLA-G and -E in advanced CRC tumor tissues and noncancerous colon biopsies. We found significantly increased CD44, Nanog, Oct3/4, HLA-G, and HLA-E expression in the CRC tumor tissues compared with the noncancerous colon biopsies. These findings suggest that some tumor cells may be CSC-like and that the increased expression of HLA-G and HLA-E may be considered as an immune-evasive adaptation. Therefore, the nonclassical major histocompatibility complex class Ib antigens HLA-G and HLA-E may be potential targets in the elimination of CRC-CSCs. However, more detailed studies are required to support our findings. © 2016 Elsevier Inc.
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Adult , Aged , Antigens, CD44 , Biomarkers, Tumor , Cell Line, Tumor , Colorectal Neoplasms , Female , Humans , Major Histocompatibility Complex , Male , Middle Aged , Neoplastic Stem Cells , Recurrence , CD133 antigen , Hermes antigen , HLA E antigen , HLA G antigen , octamer transcription factor 4 , transcription factor NANOG , CD44 protein, human , Hermes antigen , tumor marker , adult , advanced cancer , antigen expression , Article , cancer immunotherapy , cancer staging , cancer stem cell , clinical article , colon biopsy , colorectal cancer cell line , colorectal carcinoma , controlled study , female , histopathology , human , human cell , human tissue , immunocompetent cell , immunohistochemistry , lymph node metastasis , male , middle aged , priority journal , tumor escape , aged , cancer stem cell , Colorectal Neoplasms , comparative study , cytology , immunology , major histocompatibility complex , metabolism , pathology , recurrent disease , tumor cell line