Association between the pre-mir-218 polymorphism and cancer risk in the Chinese population: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Several recent studies have explored associations between pre-mir-218 polymorphism (rs11134527) and cancer risk. However, published data are still inconclusive. To obtain a more precise estimation of the relationship in the Chinese population, we carried out a meta-analysis for the first time. MATERIALS AND METHODS Through retrieval from the PubMed, Medline, Embase, Web of Science databases, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and the Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, a total of four studies were analyzed with 3,561 cases and 3,628 controls for SNP pre-mir-218 rs11134527. We calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) to explore the strength of associations. RESULTS The results showed that the rs11134527 polymorphism was associated with decreased cancer risk in GG versus AA and GG versus AA+AG models tested ( GG vs AA: OR=0.82, 95%CI: 0.71-0.94; GG vs AA+AG: OR=0.84, 95%CI: 0.74-0.96), and significantly decreased cervical cancer risk was observed in GG versus AA and GG versus AA+AG models (GG vs AA: OR=0.79, 95%CI: 0.66-0.94; GG vs AA+AG: OR=0.80, 95%CI: 0.68-0.94). However, no significant association between the rs11134527 polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma risk was observed in all comparison models tested (AG vs AA: OR=0.94, 95%CI: 0.79-1.11; GG vs AA: OR=0.88, 95%CI: 0.70-1.10; GG+AG vs AA: OR=0.92, 95%CI: 0.79-1.08; GG vs AA+AG: OR=0.91, 95%CI: 0.75-1.11). CONCLUSION The findings suggest that pre-miR-218 rs11134527 polymorphism may have some relation to cancer development in Chinese. However, well-designed studies with larger sample size and more detailed data are needed to confirm these conclusions.