Association of p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism with bladder cancer: a meta-analysis.

Abstract Background p53 tumor suppressor gene Arg72Pro polymorphism has been associated with bladder cancer. However, results were inconsistent. We performed this meta-analysis to estimate the association between p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and bladder cancer. Methods Electronic search of PubMed was conducted to select studies. Studies containing available genotype frequencies of Arg72Pro were chosen, and pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess the association. Results The final meta-analysis included 14 published studies with 2176 bladder cancer cases and 2798 controls. The results suggested that the variant genotype was associated with the bladder cancer risk (additive model: OR  = 1.72, 95% CI : 1.036–1.325, P  = 0.011; dominant model: OR  = 1.268, 95% CI : 1.003–1.602, P  = 0.047) in Asian subgroup. However, the association was not significant between this polymorphism and bladder cancer risk in Caucasian (additive model: OR  = 0.773, 95% CI : 0.564–1.059, P  = 0.109; dominant model: OR  = 0.685, 95% CI : 0.418–1.124, P  = 0.134). Conclusion This meta-analysis suggests that p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism is associated with increased risk of bladder cancer in Asians. To validate the association between this polymorphism and bladder cancer, further studies with larger participants worldwide are needed.