Bioinformatics analysis of the clinical significance of HLA class II in breast cancer

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II plays critical roles in antigen presentation and the initiation of immune responses. However, the correlation between the HLA class II gene expression level and the survival of patients with breast cancer is still under investigation. We analyzed microarray and RNA-Seq data of breast cancer from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA), genotype-tissue expression (GTEx) and Oncomine databases by using bioinformatics tools. The expression of the HLA-DQA1, HLA-DQA2, and HLA-DQB2 genes was significantly upregulated in breast cancer. Higher expression levels of HLA class II genes in breast cancer, especially HLA-DOB and HLA-DQB2, were significantly associated with better overall survival. Furthermore, the expression of HLA class II genes was more closely associated with survival in breast cancer than in other cancer types. CD48 coexpressed with both HLA-DOB and HLA-DQB2 was also positively associated with the overall survival of breast cancer patients. The results indicated that HLA class II and CD48 may enhance antitumor immunity, and their expression patterns may serve as potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in breast cancer.