Immunosurveillance (by Arta Monir Monjazeb et al via Frontiers in Oncology

Having heterozygous human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) - cell-surface proteins that present antigens to T cells and are highly specific to individuals – is associated with a lower risk of lung cancer in smokers. Krishna et al. looked at the genetic and immune profiles of more than 500,000 individuals enrolled in the UK Biobank and FinnGen, along with their cancer history. They found that current and former smokers with heterozygosity in the HLA-II loci had a significantly lower risk of developing lung cancer. Furthermore, smokers with lung cancer were more likely to have loss of heterozygosity of HLA loci. The authors propose that HLA heterozygosity could allow a stronger immune response against smoking-induced antigens, suggesting that immunogenetic analyses should be incorporated into cancer screening programs.

Krishna C, … Chowell D. Science. 2024 Feb 23;383(6685):eadi3808.

A plot of GWAS results...

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