Objective:

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a malignant proliferation of immature lymphocytes in the bone marrow and blood. Cancer cells utilize soluble human leukocyte antigen G (sHLA-G) as a key component of their immune evasion strategy. This study aimed to assess sHLA-G levels in patients with ALL, as it may serve as a diagnostic marker for tumors.

Materials and Methods:

Children diagnosed with ALL were compared with healthy children in a control group. Participants in both groups were between 1 and 14 years of age. Patient samples were categorized into three subgroups based on disease duration and treatment. Serum sHLA-G levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results:

The patient group consisted of 80 participants, while the control group included 40 individuals. The findings indicated that sHLA-G levels were significantly higher in patients (mean ± standard deviation [SD]= 42.08 ± 21.62 ng/mL) in contrast to control subjects (mean ± SD=23.20 ± 21.54 ng/mL; p=0.001). While no significant differences were found in sHLA-G levels across the three patient subgroups compared with Duncan's test (p=0.213), all patient groups had a considerable elevation in sHLA-G levels compared to the control group.

Conclusions:

sHLA-G acts as an immune checkpoint used by tumor cells to spread and evade immunity. Therefore, it can be used as an indicator for diagnosing and monitoring tumor development and treatment response.

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