Background: In recent years, the PLCE1 rs2274223 polymorphism has been extensively investigated as a potential risk factor for upper gastrointestinal cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and gastric cancer. However, the results of these studies have been inconsistent.
Methods: A meta-analysis of 13 case-control studies was performed including more than 11,000 subjects with genotyped PLCE1 rs2274223 polymorphisms. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were employed to assess the association of the PLCE1 rs2274223 polymorphism with a susceptibility to ESCC or gastric cancer.
Results: A statistically significant increase in the risk of ESCC was associated with the PLCE1 rs2274223 polymorphism. This included the homozygous genetic model (OR = 1.46), heterozygous genetic model (OR = 1.25) and allelic genetic model (OR = 1.23). Similar results were consistently found for gastric cancer. In a subgroup analysis, the PLCE1 rs2274223 polymorphism was found to be a very sensitive marker for gastric cardia cancer as shown by the homozygous genetic model (OR = 2.23), heterozygous genetic model(OR = 1.59) and allelic genetic model (OR = 1.47). The risk associations of all of the gastric cardia cancer models were statistically significant. In contrast, none of the genetic models for non-cardia gastric cancer were significant.
Conclusions: In this meta-analysis, the PLCE1 rs2274223 polymorphism was confirmed to have a statistically significant association with an increasing risk of ESCC and gastric cancer. The increase risk was especially observed for gastric cardia cancer.