Background: Although a number of studies have been conducted on the association between GSTT1 polymorphism and breast cancer in China, this association remains elusive and controversial. To clarify the effects of GSTT1 polymorphism on the risk of breast cancer, an updated meta-analysis was performed in the Chinese population.
Material/methods: Related studies were identified from PubMed, Springer Link, Ovid, Chinese Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Chinese Biology Medicine (CBM) to up 28(th) January 2015. Pooled ORs and 95% CIs were used to assess the strength of the associations.
Results: A total of 13 studies including 3387 breast cancer cases and 5085 controls were involved in this meta-analysis. Overall, a significant association (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.02-1.67) was found between the null GSTT1 and breast cancer risk when all studies in Chinese population pooled into the meta-analysis. In subgroup analyses stratified by geographic areas and source of controls, it revealed the significant results in population-based studies (OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.23-1.65) and South China (OR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.27-1.70).
Conclusions: This meta-analysis showed that the null GSTT1 may be potential biomarkers for breast cancer risk in Chinese, and further studies with gene-gene and gene-environment interactions are required for definite conclusions.
Keywords: GSTT1; Meta-analysis; breast cancer; polymorphism.