Abstract
Many molecular epidemiologic studies have explored the possible links between interleukin-12 (IL-12) polymorphisms and various cancers. However, results from these studies remain inconsistent. This meta-analysis is aimed to shed light on the associations between three common loci (rs568408, rs2243115, rs3212227) of IL-12 gene and overall cancer risk. Our meta-analysis finally included 33 studies comprising 10,587 cancer cases and 12,040 cancer-free controls. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the cancer risk. We observed a significant association between IL-12B rs3212227 and overall cancer risk, especially in hepatocellular carcinoma, nasopharyngeal cancer, and among Asians. IL-12A polymorphisms (rs2243115 and rs568408) were found no influence on overall cancer risk. Nevertheless, stratification analyses demonstrated that rs568408 polymorphism contributed to increasing cancer risk of Caucasians and cervical cancer. And, rs2243115 may enhance the risk of brain tumor. These findings provided evidence that IL-12 polymorphisms may play a potential role in cancer risk.
Highlights
According to the data provided by Cancer statistics, 2017, around 1,688,780 new cancer patients and 600,920 cancer-related deaths will develop in America in 2017 [1]
Fourteen studies were excluded from our meta-analysis after screening the titles and abstracts because they were not researching on rs568408, rs2243115 and rs3212227 polymorphisms (2 studies) or cancer (4 studies), and 8 studies were excluded for not case-control studies
The remaining 37 studies evaluated for eligibility by reading the full-text; 3 studies were excluded owing to either lack of complete data or presence of irrelevant data that focused on other IL-12 polymorphisms; one study was written neither in English nor in Chinese
Summary
According to the data provided by Cancer statistics, 2017, around 1,688,780 new cancer patients and 600,920 cancer-related deaths will develop in America in 2017 [1]. It was estimated that a number of 4,292,000 new cancer patients and 2,814,000 cancer-related deaths would occur in China in 2015 [2] These data declared that cancer has represented a substantial public health burden. Interferon, a cytokine with strongly anti-tumor effects, was widely used in treatment of many cancers, especially for hematological malignant tumor such as chronic myeloid leukemia and hairy cell leukemia [5]. Interleukins (ILs) were promising in immunotherapy for many cancers because they can enhance the immune response against both infections and tumors. Interleukin-12 (IL-12), which is characteristic as a link between the innate and acquired immune response [7], is one of the most potential candidates for tumor immunotherapy
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