Murine double minute 2 rs2279744 polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma risk in East Asians: a meta-analysis

Murine double minute 2 (MDM2) is a crucial negative regulator of p53 function through several mechanisms. There are many studies performed to assess the association between MDM2 rs2279744 polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma risk, but the impact of MDM2 rs2279744 polymorphism on hepatocellular carcinoma in East Asians is unclear owing to the inconsistent findings from previous studies. We conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of epidemiological studies to shed some light on these contradicting results. We used pooled odds ratio (OR) with its 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) to assess the association. Overall, seven studies with a total of 4,993 subjects were finally included. The meta-analysis suggested that MDM2 rs2279744 polymorphism was significantly associated with increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in East Asians (G versus T: OR = 1.27, 95 % CI 1.06–1.52, P = 0.01; GG versus TT: OR = 1.59, 95 % CI 1.11–2.27, P = 0.01; GG/GT versus TT: OR = 1.41, 95 % CI 1.07–1.87, P = 0.02; GG versus TT/GT: OR = 1.32, 95 % CI 1.08–1.62, P = 0.008). Sensitivity analysis by excluding low-quality study still suggested that the association above was still significant. Thus, the findings from the meta-analysis support that MDM2 rs2279744 polymorphism is significantly associated with increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in East Asians.