CEBPE polymorphism confers an increased risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a meta-analysis of 11 case-control studies with 5,639 cases and 10,036 controls

The association between CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-ε (CEBPE) rs2239633 polymorphism and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) risk has been reported, but results of previous studies remain controversial and ambiguous. To assess the association between CEBPE rs2239633 polymorphism and childhood ALL risk, a meta-analysis was performed. Based on comprehensive searches of the PubMed, Embase, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), we identified outcome data from all articles estimating the association between CEBPE rs2239633 polymorphism and childhood ALL risk. The pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. A significant association between CEBPE rs2239633 polymorphism with childhood ALL was found (OR = 1.19, 95 % CI 1.11–1.28, P < 0.01). Subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity also suggested a significant association between this polymorphism and childhood ALL in the Caucasian subgroup (OR = 1.19, 95 % CI 1.09–1.30, P < 0.01) and Hispanic subgroup (OR = 1.39, 95 % CI 1.18–1.63, P < 0.01). No significant association was observed in the Asian subgroup (OR = 1.05, 95 % CI 0.90–1.22, P = 0.53). The CEBPE rs2239633 polymorphism increased B cell ALL risk (OR = 1.29, 95 % CI 1.15–1.44, P < 0.01) and B hyperdiploid ALL risk (OR = 1.84, 95 % CI 1.40–2.43, P < 0.01). This meta-analysis demonstrated that the CEBPE rs2239633 polymorphism was significantly associated with childhood ALL risk.