Meta-analysis of associations between interleukin-17 gene polymorphisms and risk of gastric cancer.
BACKGROUND
Previous studies have indicated that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the interleukin-17 (IL-17) gene are associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer. However, the findings were inconsistent.


METHODS
To provide a more reliable estimation of the association between SNPs in the IL-17 gene and the susceptibility to gastric cancer, we searched PubMed, CNKI, and Wan Fang databases and selected finally six studies covering 2,366 cases and 3,205 controls to perform a meta-analysis.


RESULTS
Statistical analyses showed that an rs2275913 polymorphism within the IL-17A gene was significantly associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer using a generalized odds ratio (ORG, a model-free approach). Moreover, we also found that the 'A' allele carriers of IL-17A rs2275913 had a significant link with clinicopathological features. However, no significant positive signals were observed in the association analysis of the rs3748067 and rs763780 polymorphisms with the risk of gastric cancer in IL-17A and IL-17F, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite some limitations, the present meta-analysis provided a more precise estimation of the relationship between the IL-17 gene SNPs and gastric cancer risk compared with individual studies.
Department of Medical Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China E-mail : yhui30@hotmail.com.
Hui
H
Yu
Si
S
Sun
Fang
F
Liu
Qing-Hua
QH
Xu
D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D020381:Interleukin-17 / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*
D020381:Interleukin-17