title: Aberrant promoter methylation of SOCS-1 gene may contribute to the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We conducted this meta-analysis of published case-control studies aiming to evaluate the relationship between abnormal suppression of cytokine signaling-1 (SOCS-1) promoter methylation and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Relevant studies were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and China Biological Medicine (CBM) databases without language restrictions. Meta-analysis was conducted using the STATA 12.0 software. We calculated odds ratio (OR) and its 95 % confidence interval (95% CI) to estimate the correlations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixteen case-control studies with a total of 941 HCC patients and 114 individuals with benign liver diseases met our inclusion criteria. Our results demonstrated that the frequency of SOCS-1 promoter methylation in cancer tissues was significantly higher than in adjacent non-tumorous tissues and benign tissues (cancer tissue vs adjacent tissue: OR=3.05, 95%CI 1.62-5.77, p=0.001; cancer tissue vs benign tissue: OR=11.55, 95%CI 5.93-22.49, p=0.000). Subgroup analyses by ethnicity, detecting method and sample size also suggested that abnormal SOCS-1 promoter methylation was correlated to the risk of HCC in the majority of these subgroups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings provide empirical evidence that abnormal SOCS-1 promoter methylation may contribute to the pathogenesis of HCC. Thus, detection of SOCS-1 promoter methylation may be a valuable diagnostic biomarker for HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Surgery and Liver Transplantation Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No. 37 Guoxuexiang, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Rong-Ce
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jing-Yang
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Yong-Gang
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D017594:Publication Bias; D000071222:Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 1 Protein; D050826:Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C108944:SOCS1 protein, human; D000071222:Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 1 Protein; D050826:Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling Proteins