CD95 rs1800682A/G variant and tumor risk in Asians: evidence from a meta-analysis of 36 case-control studies containing 22,438 samples.

Background: The CD95 gene plays a key role in regulating cell growth and tumor genesis. To date, several publications have focused on the CD95 rs1800682A/G site polymorphism and various types of tumors in Asians; however, this association is still controversial and obscure. Therefore, a meta-analysis combined with all publications to clarify this association is necessary.

Material/methods: A search in the PubMed and SinoMed databases was performed to detect all relevant included publications. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) revealed association strengths.

Results: Overall, 36 case-control studies were chosen based on the search criteria. There was no association of the CD95 rs1800682A/G site polymorphism with tumor risk in total and ethnicity subgroup analysis. However, further stratified analysis in the cancer subgroup revealed weakly significant associations in hepatocellular carcinoma (AA+AG vs. GG: OR=0.93, 95% CI=0.87-0.99, P=0.035; AG vs. GG: OR=0.89, 95% CI=0.80-0.99, P=0.036).

Conclusions: The CD95 rs1800682A/G site polymorphism may be associated with hepatocellular carcinoma susceptibility. Further large-scale and well-designed studies regarding tumor types and ethnicities are still required to confirm our results.