The -786T > C polymorphism in the NOS3 gene is associated with increased cancer risk

The -786T > C polymorphism in NOS3 gene may affect the DNA repair pathways and be associated with risk of cancer. However, the results of previous studies are inconsistent. The objective of this study is to investigate the association between the -786T > C polymorphism in NOS3 and risk of cancer by meta-analysis. We searched PubMed, Embase, CNKI, and Wanfang databases and the last search was updated on Sept. 20, 2013. Statistical analysis was performed using Revman4.2 and Stata10.0 software. A total of 9 case–control studies concerning 4,089 cases and 3,847 controls were included. The results suggested a significant association between the -786T > C polymorphism in NOS3 and cancer risk (CC vs. TT + CT; OR = 1.30, 95 % CI = 1.07–1.57, P = 0.007) in total analysis. In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity and cancer types, significant associations were found in the breast cancer subgroup (OR 1.51, 95 % CI 1.07–2.12; P = 0.02) and European subgroup (OR 1.26, 95 % CI 1.01–1.58; P = 0.04). The current meta-analysis suggested that the -786T > C polymorphisms in NOS3 may be a risk factor for cancer. In the future, more case–control studies are needed to validate our results.