Cleft lip and palate transmembrane 1-like (CLPTM1L) gene rs402710 (C > T) and rs401681 (C > T) polymorphisms have been widely studied for their potential relation to cancer risk, but studies have produced conflicting results. To systematically evaluate the association between these two polymorphisms and overall cancer risk, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis on all relevant articles found in the PubMed and EMBASE databases published prior to May 1, 2017. There were 26 articles with 28 studies, including 30,770 cases and 34,089 controls, for the rs402710 polymorphism and 38 articles with 48 studies, including 67,849 cases and 328,226 controls, for the rs401681 polymorphism. The pooled results indicated that both rs402710 and rs401681 polymorphisms are significantly associated with decreased overall cancer risk. In our stratification analysis, a significant association of the rs402710 polymorphism with lung and bladder cancers was identified among Asian and Caucasian populations in both hospital-based and population-based studies. The rs401681 polymorphism was significantly associated with a decreased risk of lung cancer, bladder cancer, and basal cell carcinoma in Asians and in hospital-based studies. CLPTM1L gene rs402710 and rs401681 polymorphisms thus have a protective association with various types of cancer, especially lung cancer among Asians.
Keywords: CLPTM1L; cancer; meta-analysis; polymorphism; risk.