Nucleotide excision repair gene ERCC1 19007T>C polymorphism contributes to lung cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis.

Aims: Association studies of ERCC1 19007T>C polymorphism and lung cancer have yielded inconsistent results, possibly because single studies often lack sufficient statistical power.

Methods: We examined the association by performing a meta-analysis. Two investigators independently searched the Google Scholar, PubMed, and CNKI Databases. Summary odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for 19007T>C polymorphism and lung cancer were calculated in a fixed-effects model and a random-effects model, when appropriate. Publication bias was evaluated using Begg's funnel plot.

Results: Overall, the meta-analysis included 7 case-control studies for each polymorphism with 3840 confirmed lung cancer cases and 4712 healthy controls in total. Meta-analysis results showed a significant association between 19007T>C polymorphism and lung cancer risk (CC vs. TT: OR=0.72, 95% CI 0.53-0.99; CT vs. TT: OR=0.84, 95% CI 0.73-0.98; Dominant model: OR=0.70, 95% CI 0.52-0.95). Further stratified analyses conducted by ethnicity reveal a statistically significant association in Asians (Dominant model: OR=0.63, 95% CI 0.43-0.93), but no significant association in Europeans.

Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests that the ERCC1 19007T>C polymorphism may be associated with lung cancer risk in Asians, while larger scale association studies are necessary to further validate the association of 19007T>C polymorphism with lung cancer risk.