MiR-146a rs2910164 polymorphism increases risk of gastric cancer: a meta-analysis.
OBJECTIVE
To systematically evaluate the association between the miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphism and susceptibility to gastric cancer.


METHODS
A comprehensive electronic search was conducted for articles published up until January 27, 2014 in Medline (PubMed), Excerpta Medica Database (Embase), the Cochrane Library and Google Scholar. Only case-control studies published in English that evaluated the association between the miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphism and susceptibility to gastric cancer were included. Furthermore, only studies with sufficient data allowing for calculation of odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were included. These values were used in the quantitative synthesis to assess the strength of the association between the miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphism and risk of gastric cancer.


RESULTS
The database search identified 1002 eligible studies, of which seven (comprising 4112 cases and 5811 controls) were included for the meta-analysis. The results indicate that miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphism is more likely to be associated with gastric cancer risk. In the overall analysis, a significantly increased cancer risk was found in the heterozygote (GG vs GC) comparison (OR = 1.14, 95%CI: 1.03-1.27; P = 0.01 for pooled OR). In the ethnicity subgroup analysis, a similar result was found among Caucasians (OR = 1.36, 95%CI: 1.01-1.85; P = 0.04 for pooled OR). In the stratified analysis by quality of studies, a significantly increased cancer risk was found in the heterozygote comparison among high quality studies (OR = 1.12, 95%CI: 1.01-1.26; P = 0.04 for pooled OR). When stratified on the basis of sample size, a significantly increased cancer risk was found among small sample size subgroups for the allelic (G vs C: OR = 1.16, 95%CI: 1.03-1.30; P = 0.01), homozygote (GG vs CC: OR = 1.33, 95%CI: 1.03-1.73; P = 0.03) and recessive model (GG vs GC + CC: OR = 0.05, 95%CI: 0.00-0.10; P = 0.03) comparisons.


CONCLUSIONS
The miR-146a rs2910164 polymorphism is associated with increased gastric cancer risk, particularly evident in high quality studies with small sample sized Caucasian populations.
Wen-Qun Xie, Shi-Yun Tan, Xiao-Fan Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430060, Hubei Province, China.
Wen-Qun
WQ
Xie
Wen-Qun Xie, Shi-Yun Tan, Xiao-Fan Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430060, Hubei Province, China.
Shi-Yun
SY
Tan
Wen-Qun Xie, Shi-Yun Tan, Xiao-Fan Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430060, Hubei Province, China.
Xiao-Fan
XF
Wang
D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics
C542542:MIRN146 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
Gastric cancer; Meta-analysis; MiR-146a; Polymorphism; Risk