Aims: The association between interleukin-17 (IL-17) gene polymorphism and cancer is controversial. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the correlation between this gene variant and cancer risk.
Materials and methods: We retrieved the available data from EMBASE and PUBMED through June, 2015, and evaluated the effect of the rs2273913 polymorphism in different ethnicities and cancer types. A meta-analysis was performed after data sorting.
Results: Significant associations were confirmed among Asians by the allelic model (T allele vs. G allele, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.304-2.120), homozygote comparison (AA vs. GG, 95% CI 1.073-1.615), and the recessive model (AA vs. AG/GG, 95% CI 1.128-1.778). We also demonstrated that rs2273913 confers a high risk of nongastrointestinal cancer based on the allelic model (T allele vs. G allele, 95% CI 2.288-3.442), homozygote comparison (AA vs. GG, 95% CI 1.312-1.925), and recessive model (AA vs. AG/GG, 95% CI 1.259-1.689).
Conclusions: Our present study indicates that the IL-17A +197 G/A/T polymorphism (rs2275913) is associated with the risk of cancer in Asian populations and nongastrointestinal cancers. Hence, rs2275913 might be useful as a diagnostic biomarker of cancer in these populations.