Global Advanced Research Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences (GARJMMS) ISSN: 2315-5159
September 2015 Vol. 4(9), pp. 383-388
Copyright © 2015 Global Advanced Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Association of Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha-308G/A Polymorphism and Pancreatic Cancer Susceptibility: Evidence from a Meta-analysis

Xing-Dong Xu¹, Ji-Hua Cao¹, Ting Ge², Tao Wang¹ and Sheng-Hua Cao¹*

1Department of General Surgery，The People’s Hospital of China Three Gorges University, The First People's Hospital of Yichang, Yichang443000, China.
2Department of Operating Room, The People’s Hospital of China Three Gorges University, The First People's Hospital of Yichang, Yichang443000, China.

*Corresponding    Author   E-Mail:  247553780@qq.com; Tel:  +86-717- 6287681;   Fax:  +86-717-6221636

Accepted 02 September, 2015

Abstract

Epidemiologic studies have explored the association between tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) -308G/A polymorphism and pancreatic cancer susceptibility. However, those studies have yielded contradictory findings on the association. We performed a comprehensive search in the PubMed, Web of Science, Chinese Biological Medicine Database and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases to identify relevant studies. A meta-analysis was performed to examine the association between TNF-α -308G/A polymorphism and risk to pancreatic cancer by calculating the pooled odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CIs). Publication bias was analyzed by Begg’s funnel plots. Five studies involving a total of 689 cases and 1331 controls were included. Overall, no significant association was found between TNF-α -308G/A polymorphism and risk to pancreatic cancer when all studies were pooled into the meta-analysis using five genetic models (for G vs A: OR=0.993, 95% CI=0.820-1.202, P=0.940; for GG vs AA: OR=1.011, 95% CI=0.535-1.912, P=0.973; for GA vs AA: OR=1.055, 95% CI=0.546-2.038, P=0.873; for GG + GA vs AA: OR=1.018, 95% CI=0.538-1.924, P=0.957; for GG vs GA + AA: OR=0.988, 95% CI=0.795-1.227, P=0.911). Besides, publication bias analysis showed that there was no publication bias in these five studies. In summary, our meta-analysis suggested that TNF-α -308G/A polymorphism was not associated with pancreatic cancer susceptibility in Caucasian population.

Keywords: TNF-α; Susceptibility; Pancreatic cancer; Meta-analysis