Distinct effects of rs895819 on risk of different cancers: an update meta-analysis

// Muxiong Chen 1, 2, * , Wenpan Fang 1, 3, * , Xinkai Wu 1 , Suchen Bian 1 , Guangdi Chen 1, 3 , Liqin Lu 4 and Yu Weng 5 1 Institute of Environmental Health, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China 2 Research Center of Molecular Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China 3 Department of Public Health, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China 4 Department of Oncology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Hangzhou, China 5 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Yu Weng, email: wengyu1121@163.com Liqin Lu, email: luliqin@yeah.net Guangdi Chen, email: chenguangdi@zju.edu.cn Keywords: miR-27a, genetic variant, cancer risk, meta-analysis Received: January 26, 2017      Accepted: April 12, 2017      Published: April 27, 2017 ABSTRACT Previous studies have indicated an association between the genetic variant in pre-miR-27a rs895819 with A->G transition and cancer risk; however, the results remain inconsistent and somehow conflicting in different cancers. Therefore, to obtain a more reliable conclusion, we performed an update meta-analysis by searching PubMed database or other databases. Odds ratio (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CIs) were calculated to evaluate cancer risk. A total of 34 case-control studies involving 15,388 cases and 18,704 controls were included. The results showed that rs895819 was associated with an increased cancer risk (GG vs. AA/AG: OR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.02–1.29). Furthermore, stratification analyses revealed an association of rs895819 with increased cancer risk among Asians (GG vs. AA: OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.01–1.36; GG vs. AA/AG: OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.03–1.35), but not Caucasians. Interestingly, the [G] allele of rs895819 was significantly associated with decreased risk of breast cancer (G vs. A: OR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.86–0.97). However, rs895819 was associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer (GG vs. AA: OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.31–1.85; GG vs. AA/AG: OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.30–1.79; G vs. A: OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.09–1.30) and lung cancer (GG vs. AA/AG: OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.00–2.04). In addition, no association was found between rs895819 and risk of gastric cancer or esophageal cancer. In conclusion, our findings suggest distinct effects of rs895819 on risk of different cancers, and future well-designed studies with large samples are required to further validate our results.