Association between survivin 31GC promoter polymorphism and cancer risk: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Survivin is an inhibitor of apoptosis protein and has a crucial role in the development of cancer. The survivin 31>GC (rs9904341) promoter polymorphism influences survivin expression and has been implicated in cancer risk. However, conflicting results have been published from studies on the association between survivin 31>GC polymorphism and the risk of cancer. To clarify the role of this polymorphism in cancer, we performed a meta-analysis of all available and relevant published studies, involving a total of 3485 cancer patients and 3964 control subjects. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the associations. The overall results indicated that the variant genotypes were associated with a significantly increased cancer risk (CC vs GG: OR=1.58, 95% CI=1.20-2.10; CC/GC vs GG: OR=1.23, 95% CI=1.00-1.51; CC vs GG/GC: OR=1.51, 95% CI=1.23-1.85). In the stratified analyses, significantly increased risk was associated with the Asian populations (CC vs GG: OR=1.67, 95% CI=1.16-2.40; CC vs GG/GC: OR=1.50, 95% CI=1.17-1.91). We also performed the analyses by cancer type, and no statistical association was observed. The results suggest that the survivin 31GC promoter polymorphism might be associated with an increased risk of cancer, especially in the Asian populations. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved.