The Association of the Human Histocompatibility System With Hodgkin's Disease

SUMMARY Variation in the ability of the host to respond to disease has been recognized but the mechanisms have not been defined. Recent studies suggest a genetic control of the immune response and of the susceptibility or resistance to oncogenic viruses linked to the major histocompatibility locus. Thus histocompatibility‐linked genetic control of the immune response might play an important role in determining resistance or susceptibility in disease states. The known gene products of the major histocompatibility autosomal region in humans can be detected by serological and by functional assays. In this prospective study of 115 patients with Hodgkin's disease we have related the serologically detectable gene products, the HL‐A antigens, to the course of the disease. The antigens A3 and A11 were decreased in the seventy‐nine patients in whom the disease had been present for less than 1 year. The antigen A8 occurred in normal frequency in the patients with recent onset of the disease but was significantly increased in the thirty‐six patients who had survived with the disease for longer than 5 years. Both observations are compatible with an ability to resist the disease; that is, either resistance to the onset of the disease or improved survival once the disease has developed.