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Lack of an association between a functional polymorphism in the interleukin-6 gene promoter and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis involving 25,703 subjects

  • Epidemiology
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Abstract

The association between a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) −174G > C (rs1800795) located in the IL-6 gene promoter and breast cancer risk is still controversial and ambiguous. We performed in this study a more precise estimation of the relationship by meta-analyzing the currently available evidence from literature. A total of 11 publications containing 12 studies including 10,137 cases and 15,566 controls were identified. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of association in the codominant model, dominant model, and recessive model. When all the studies were pooled into the meta-analysis, there was no evidence showing a significant association between −174G > C and breast cancer risk (for CC vs. GG: OR = 1.024, 95% CI: 0.935–1.121; for GC vs. GG: OR = 1.008, 95% CI: 0.946-1.073; for dominant model: OR = 0.980, 95% CI: 0.857–1.121; and for recessive model: OR = 1.027, 95% CI: 0.944–1.117). In the subgroup analyses by ethnicity, no significant associations were observed in any genetic models. In summary, the present meta-analysis suggests that the functional polymorphism −174G > C within the IL-6 gene promoter is not associated with breast cancer risk. Identifying a unique SNP as a breast cancer risk predictor remains a very challenging task.

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by grants from the National Basic Research Program of China (2006CB910501) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30971143, 30972936).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Breast Surgery, Cancer Hospital/Cancer Institute, Fudan University, 399 Ling-Ling Road, 200032, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Ke-Da Yu, Gen-Hong Di, Lei Fan, Ao-Xiang Chen, Chen Yang & Zhi-Ming Shao

  2. Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Ke-Da Yu, Gen-Hong Di, Lei Fan, Ao-Xiang Chen, Chen Yang & Zhi-Ming Shao

  3. Institutes of Biomedical Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Zhi-Ming Shao

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  1. Ke-Da Yu
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  2. Gen-Hong Di
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Correspondence to Zhi-Ming Shao.

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K.-D. Yu, G.-H. Di, L. Fan contributed equally to this work.

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Yu, KD., Di, GH., Fan, L. et al. Lack of an association between a functional polymorphism in the interleukin-6 gene promoter and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis involving 25,703 subjects. Breast Cancer Res Treat 122, 483–488 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-009-0706-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-009-0706-5

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