Mycosis fungoides: HLA class II associations among Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi Jewish patients

Abstract

Our findings further demonstrate the 'universality' of MF HLA class II susceptibility alleles, i.e. HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DQB1*03, suggesting that HLA polymorphism is likely to be important in the pathogenesis of MF in Jewish patients, as it is in North American caucasian patients. Not previously reported is our finding that HLA-DRB1*1104 is the specific allele more prevalent among patients with MF. Our study also underscores some differences in HLA profiles between non-Jewish and Jewish patients with MF and between Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi Jewish patients, indicating the possibility of diverse HLA disease associations in populations with different genetic backgrounds. Our study provides further evidence for the lack of association between HLA class I and MF.