Association between transforming growth factor-β1 polymorphisms and hepatocellular cancer risk: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Aim: The association between transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) gene polymorphisms and hepatocellular cancer (HCC) risk has been widely reported, but results were somewhat controversial. To derive a more precise estimation of the relationship between TGF-β1 polymorphisms and HCC risk, we conducted a meta-analysis of all available studies relating the C-509T and/or T869C polymorphisms of the TGF-β1 gene to the risk of developing HCC.

Methods: Two investigators independently searched the MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) and CBM (Chinese Biomedical Literature database) for the period up to August 2011.

Result: A total of nine case-control articles were identified. Five studies with 1825 cases and 2869 controls for C-509T polymorphism, and six studies with 536 cases and 1496 controls for T869C polymorphism were included. In the overall analysis, no significant association between the polymorphisms and risk of HCC was observed. Stratified analysis showed that significant association between C-509T polymorphism and HCC was present only in controls with liver disease (T vs. C: odds ratio [OR] = 0.769, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.661-0.895; TT vs. CC: OR = 0.570, 95% CI = 0.412-0.788; TT/TC vs. CC: OR = 0.668, 95% CI = 0.523-0.854; TT vs.

Tc/cc: OR = 0.717, 95% CI = 0.550-0.934), but not in healthy controls. With respect to T869C polymorphism, only a decreased risk was found in recessive models in controls with liver disease.

Conclusions: This meta-analysis supports that the TGF-β1 C-509T polymorphism may act in a protecting role in HCC susceptibility in populations with related liver disease.