Sulfotransferase SULT1A1 Arg213His Polymorphism with Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis of 53 Case-Control Studies

<div><p>Background</p><p>The <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His (rs9282861) polymorphism is reported to be associated with many kinds of cancer risk. However, the findings are conflicting. For better understanding this SNP site and cancer risk, we summarized available data and performed this meta-analysis.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Data were collected from the following electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Knowledge and CNKI. The association was assessed by odd ratio (OR) and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI).</p><p>Results</p><p>A total of 53 studies including 16733 cancer patients and 23334 controls based on the search criteria were analyzed. Overall, we found <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His polymorphism can increase cancer risk under heterozygous (OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.01–1.18, P = 0.040), dominant (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.01–1.19, P = 0.021) and allelic (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.02–1.16, P = 0.015) models. In subgroup analyses, significant associations were observed in upper aero digestive tract (UADT) cancer (heterozygous model: OR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.11–2.35, P = 0.012; dominant model: OR = 1.63, 95% CI = 1.13–2.35, P = 0.009; allelic model: OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.10–2.11, P = 0.012) and Indians (recessive model: OR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.22–3.07, P = 0.005) subgroups. Hospital based study also showed marginally significant association. In the breast cancer subgroup, ethnicity and publication year revealed by meta-regression analysis and one study found by sensitivity analysis were the main sources of heterogeneity. The association between <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His and breast cancer risk was not significant. No publication bias was detected.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The present meta-analysis suggests that <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His polymorphism plays an important role in carcinogenesis, which may be a genetic factor affecting individual susceptibility to UADT cancer. <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His didn't show any association with breast cancer, but the possible risk in Asian population needs further investigation.</p></div

Overall and subgroup meta-analysis of the association between <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His polymorphism and cancer risk under genetic models.

<p>N: total number of studies involved in the analysis; a: random effect model; b: fix effect model.</p><p>Overall and subgroup meta-analysis of the association between <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His polymorphism and cancer risk under genetic models.</p

Forest plot on the association between <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His polymorphism and UADT cancer risk in dominant model.

<p>Forest plot on the association between <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His polymorphism and UADT cancer risk in dominant model.</p

Flow diagram of the study selection process.

<p>Flow diagram of the study selection process.</p

Begg's funnel plot of the Egger's test for publication bias of SULT1A1 Arg213His polymorphism and cancer risk.

<p>(A) heterozygous model (B) homozygous model (C) dominant model (D) recessive model The horizontal line in the funnel plot indicates the fixed-effects summary estimate, whereas the sloping lines indicate the expected 95% confidence intervals for a given SE.</p

Forest plot on the association between <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His polymorphism and breast cancer risk in homozygous model.

<p>Forest plot on the association between <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His polymorphism and breast cancer risk in homozygous model.</p

Forest plot on the association between <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His polymorphism and breast cancer risk in homozygous model omitting Khvostova's study.

<p>Forest plot on the association between <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His polymorphism and breast cancer risk in homozygous model omitting Khvostova's study.</p

The overall and subgroup heterogeneity test of the <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His polymorphism on cancer risk.

<p>The overall and subgroup heterogeneity test of the <i>SULT1A1</i> Arg213His polymorphism on cancer risk.</p

Meta-analysis in breast, colorectal and Caucasian subgroups after omitting studies of Khvostova and Sun.

<p>Meta-analysis in breast, colorectal and Caucasian subgroups after omitting studies of Khvostova and Sun.</p

Characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis.

<p><i>HWE</i>, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.</p><p>Characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis.</p