Association between the combined effects of GSTM1 present/null and CYP1A1 MspI polymorphisms with lung cancer risk: an updated meta-analysis.

Background: Many studies have been performed to explore the combined effects of glutathione-S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) present/null and cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) MspI polymorphisms with lung cancer (LC) risk, but the results are contradictory. Two previous meta-analyses have been reported on the issue in 2011 and 2014. However, several new articles since then have been published. In addition, their meta-analyses did not valuate the credibility of significantly positive results.

Objectives: We performed an updated meta-analysis to solve the controversy following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Methods: False-positive report probability (FPRP), Bayesian false discovery probability (BFDP), and the Venice criteria were used to verify the credibility of meta-analyses.

Results: Twenty-three publications including 5734 LC cases and 7066 controls met the inclusion criteria in the present study. A significantly increased risk of LC was found in overall analysis, Asians and Indians. However, all positive results were considered as 'less-credible' when we used the Venice criteria, FPRP, and BFDP test to assess the credibility of the positive results.

Conclusion: These positive findings should be interpreted with caution and results indicate that significant associations may be less-credible, there are no significantly increased LC risk between the combined effects of GSTM1 present/null and CYP1A1 MspI polymorphisms.