Prostate stem cell antigen polymorphism rs 2294008 and cancer risk : a meta-analysis

Prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) is a cell surface protein, which has a cell-proliferation inhibition and/ or cell-death induction activity. Multiple studies have reported the association between PSCA rs2294008 polymorphism and cancer risk, which showed inconclusive results. This meta-analysis based on 39 studies involving 36,742 cases and 64,756 controls was performed to address this issue. We assessed the strength of the association, using odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The statistical heterogeneity between studies was checked by χ2-based Q-test. Overall, the individuals with the TT/TC genotypes were associated with higher cancer risk than those with the CC genotype (TT/TC vs. CC: OR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.17-1.39, Pheterogeneity < 0.001). In the stratified analyses, there was a significantly increased risk of gastric cancer (TT vs. CC: OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.16-1.73, Pheterogeneity < 0.001; TC vs. CC: 1.40, 1.27-1.55, Pheterogeneity < 0.001) and bladder cancer (TT vs. CC: 1.30, 1.22-1.39, Pheterogeneity = 0.417; TT vs. TC/CC: 1.14, 1.08-1.20, Pheterogeneity = 0.458) in all genetic models except recessive model. Moreover, significant effects were observed in both Asians and Caucasian populations (TT vs. CC: 1.21, 1.01-1.44, Pheterogeneity < 0.001; TT/TC vs. CC: 1.28, 1.14-1.43, Pheterogeneity < 0.001 for Asians and TT vs. CC: 1.46, 1.23-1.74, Pheterogeneity < 0.001; TT/TC vs. CC: 1.25, 1.09-1.44, Pheterogeneity < 0.001 for Caucasians). These findings supported that PSCA rs2294008 polymorphism may contribute to the susceptibility of cancers, especially among gastric cancer and bladder cancer.