Association of microRNA-499 rs3746444 Polymorphism with Cancer Risk: Evidence from 7188 Cases and 8548 Controls

BACKGROUND Owing to inconsistent and inconclusive results, we performed a meta-analysis to derive a more precise estimation of the association between miR-499 rs3746444 polymorphism and cancer risk. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS A systematic search of the Pubmed, Excerpta Medica Database (Embase) and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) databases was performed with the last search updated on May 6, 2012. The odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were used to assess the strength of the association. A total of 15 independent studies including 7,188 cases and 8,548 controls were used in the meta-analysis. In the present meta-analysis, we found a significant association between miR-499 rs3746444 polymorphism and cancer risk in the overall analysis (G versus A: OR = 1.10, 95%CI 1.01-1.19, P = 0.03; GG+AG versus AA: OR = 1.15, 95%CI 1.02-1.30, P = 0.02; GG versus AG+AA: OR = 1.07, 95%CI 0.89-1.28, P = 0.50; GG versus AA: OR = 1.13, 95%CI 0.98-1.31, P = 0.09; AG versus AA: OR = 1.16, 95%CI 1.02-1.33, P = 0.03). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, miR-499 rs3746444 polymorphism was significantly associated with cancer risk in Asian population. In the subgroup analysis by cancer types, miR-499 rs3746444 polymorphism was significantly associated with breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE This meta-analysis suggests a significant association between miR-499 rs3746444 polymorphism and cancer risk. Large-scale and well-designed case-control studies are necessary to validate the risk identified in the present meta-analysis.