FASL rs763110 Polymorphism Contributes to Cancer Risk: An Updated Meta-Analysis Involving 43,295 Subjects

BACKGROUND Published studies investigating the association between genetic polymorphism -884C/T (rs763110) of the FAS ligand (FASL) promoter and cancer risk reported inconclusive results. To derive a more precise estimation of the relationship, we performed an updated meta-analysis of all eligible studies. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We carried out a meta-analysis, including 47 studies with 19,810 cases and 23,485 controls, to confirm a more conclusive association between the FASL rs763110 polymorphism and cancer susceptibility. Overall, significantly reduced cancer risk was associated with the variant -884T when all studies were pooled (TC vs. CC: OR = 0.83, 95%CI = 0.75-0.92; P(heterogeneity)<0.001; TT+TC vs. CC: OR = 0.85, 95%CI = 0.77-0.94; P(heterogeneity)<0.001). Stratified analysis revealed that there was a statistically reduced cancer risk in Asians (TC vs. CC: OR = 0.76, 95%CI = 0.67-0.87; P(heterogeneity)<0.001; TT+TC vs. CC: OR = 0.79, 95%CI = 0.70-0.90; P(heterogeneity)<0.001) and in patients with cancers of head and neck (TC vs. CC: OR = 0.87, 95%CI = 0.77-0.99; P(heterogeneity) = 0.118; TT+TC vs. CC: OR = 0.88, 95%CI = 0.78-0.99; P(heterogeneity) = 0.168) and ovarian cancer (TC vs. CC: OR = 0.67, 95%CI = 0.49-0.90; P(heterogeneity) = 0.187; TT+TC vs. CC: OR = 0.64, 95%CI = 0.48-0.86; P(heterogeneity) = 0.199). Meta-regression showed that ethnicity (p = 0.029) and genotyping method (p = 0.043) but not cancer types (p = 0.772), sample size (p = 0.518), or source of controls (p = 0.826) were the source of heterogeneity in heterozygote comparison. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that the FASL polymorphism rs763110 is associated with a significantly reduced risk of cancer, especially in Asian populations.