Interleukin10 -592 promoter polymorphism associated with gastric cancer among Asians: a meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies.

PURPOSE: Studies investigating the association between interleukin10 (IL10) -592 promoter polymorphism and gastric cancer risk report conflicting results. The objective of this study was to quantitatively summarize the evidence for such a relationship.

METHODS

Two investigators independently searched the MEDLINE and Embase databases. This meta-analysis included ten case-control studies, which included 1,715 gastric cancer cases and 2,783 controls.

RESULTS

The combined results based on all studies showed that there was no significant difference in genotype distribution (AA odds ratio [OR] = 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.66, 1.18; AC OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 0.95, 1.24; CC OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 0.89, 1.18) between gastric cancer and noncancer patients. When stratifying for race, the results were similar, except that patients with gastric cancer had a significantly lower frequency of AA (OR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.52, 0.87) and a higher frequency of AC (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.07, 1.68) than noncancer patients among Asians. When stratifying by the location of gastric cancer, we found that patients with cardia gastric cancer had a significantly lower frequency of AA (OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.20, 0.84) than those with noncardia gastric cancer among Caucasians. When stratifying by Lauren's classification of gastric cancer, we found that patients with diffuse gastric cancer had a significantly higher frequency of AA (OR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.07, 3.41) than those with intestinal gastric cancer among Caucasians.

CONCLUSIONS

This meta-analysis suggests that the IL10 -592 promoter polymorphism may be associated with gastric cancer among Asians, and that differences in genotype distribution may be associated with the location and Lauren's classification of gastric cancer.