Purpose: Numerous studies have suggested that the interleukin-4 (IL-4) rs2243250 polymorphism is associated with gastric cancer susceptibility. However, the results were inconsistent. Hence, we carried out a meta-analysis to confirm the conclusion.
Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, CBM, CNKI, and Wanfang Data to identify relevant studies up to August 20, 2015. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to estimate the association between IL-4 rs2243250 polymorphism and gastric cancer susceptibility. All the statistical analyses were performed with Stata 12.0 software.
Results: A total of eleven published case-control studies were identified, including 2,247 gastric cancer patients and 3,370 controls. Overall, no significant association between IL-4 rs2243250 polymorphism and gastric cancer susceptibility was observed in this meta-analysis (T vs C: OR =1.05, 95% CI =0.95-1.17; TT vs CC: OR =1.20, 95% CI =0.89-1.63; CT vs CC: OR =1.14, 95% CI =0.87-1.48; TT + CT vs CC: OR =1.13, 95% CI =0.89-1.44; TT vs CT + CC: OR =1.02, 95% CI =0.88-1.20). Similar results were found in subgroup analyses according to ethnicity and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in controls.
Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggests that IL-4 rs2243250 polymorphism may not be associated with gastric cancer susceptibility. Further studies are needed to validate this conclusion.
Keywords: genetic; interleukin-4; meta-analysis; polymorphism; stomach neoplasms.