Rhesus CE expression on patient red blood cells is an independent prognostic factor for adenocarcinoma of the lung

Schulze A., Schmidt L., Baie L., Heitkötter B., Kuemmel A., Mohr M., Buhl R., Hillmann H., Geißler G., Kelsch R., Görlich D., Berdel W., Hartmann W., Wiewrodt R.

Abstract

Objectives: The influence of blood group antigens on cancerogenesis is shown for distinct tumor types, yet the impact of Rhesus blood group antigens in lung cancer is not clarified. Materials and Methods: To investigate the impact of Rhesus blood groups a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) collective (n=1047) was analyzed retrospectively. Using a second cohort of n=340 primarily operated stage I-III NSCLC patients, we evaluated immunohistochemistry of CD47-antibody stained tissue samples in correlation to histopathologic subtype and Rhesus blood group. Results and Conclusion: In 516 of 1047 patients blood group data were available. Seven different RhCE phenotypes were grouped as "··ee," "ccE·," and "C·E·." Adenocarcinoma patients with Rh "··ee" revealed improved overall survival (29 (21.2-36.8) m; HR 1.00 [index]) compared with Rh "ccE·" (19 (1.9-36.1) m; HR 1.76 [1.15-2.70]) and Rh "C·E·" (10 (7.4-12.6) m; HR 2.65 [1.70-4.12]) univariately (P