SULT1A1 R213H polymorphism and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis based on 8,454 cases and 11,800 controls

The SULT1A1 R213H polymorphism is suggested to be implicated in the development and progression of breast cancer. However, the published findings are inconsistent. We therefore performed a meta-analysis of 8,454 breast cancer cases and 11,800 controls from 14 published case–control studies. We used odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the strength of the association of the R213H polymorphism with breast cancer risk. Overall, our results suggested that there is no significant relationship between SULT1A1 R213H polymorphism and the risk of breast cancer. However, further ethnic population analysis revealed a significantly increased risk of breast cancer for HH allele carriers among Asians (for HH vs. RR: OR = 2.27, 95% CI = 1.11–4.63, P _{heterogeneity} = 0.63; for the recessive model: OR = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.00–4.41, P _{heterogeneity} = 0.62). Taken together, this meta-analysis suggests that the SULT1A1 R213H may be a low-penetrant risk factor for developing breast cancer in Asian population.