ERCC2 Lys751Gln and Asp312Asn polymorphisms and gastric cancer risk: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Studies investigating the association between excision repair cross-complimentary group 2 (ERCC2) polymorphisms and gastric cancer (GC) risk have reported conflicting results. We performed a meta-analysis of published epidemiological studies to derive a more precise estimation of the relationship. Published literature from PubMed, EMBASE, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure was retrieved. Ten studies with 2,141 GC cases and 5,343 controls were selected. No association between ERCC2 Lys751Gln polymorphism and GC susceptibility for all genetic models was found. When stratified by race, we found the Gln/Gln genotype carriers might be at high risk of GC among Asians, but not among Caucasians. Also, the pooled results showed there was a significant difference in genotype distribution between non-gastric cardia cancer cases and controls. For ERCC2 Asp312Asn polymorphism, significantly elevated GC risk was associated with Asn/Asn genotype (AA vs. GG+GA: OR=1.36, 95%CI=1.04-1.77, P=0.02). We also found this genotype was associated with GC susceptibility among Asians and subjects without Helicobacter pylori infection. No publication bias was found in the present study. This meta-analysis concluded that both ERCC2 Lys751Gln and Asp312Asn polymorphisms might contribute to increased risk of GC among Asians.