Background: Two polymorphisms, -260C/T and -651C/T, in the CD14 gene have been implicated in susceptibility to cancer. However, the results remain inconclusive. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between the two polymorphisms and risk of cancer.
Methods: All eligible case-control studies published up to March 2014 were identified by searching PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI and WanFang database. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to access the strength of this association in fixed- or random-effects model.
Results: 17 case-control studies from fourteen articles were included. Of those, there were 17 studies (4198 cases and 4194 controls) for -260C/T polymorphism and three studies (832 cases and 1190 controls) for -651C/T polymorphism. Overall, no significant associations between the two polymorphisms of CD14 gene and cancer risk were found. When stratified by ethnicity, cancer type and source of control, similar results were observed among them. In addition, in further subgroups analysis by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection status and tumor location in gastric cancer subgroup, we found that the CD14 -260C/T polymorphism may increase the risk of gastric cancer in H. pylori-infected individuals.
Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests that the CD14 -260C/T polymorphism may increase the risk of gastric cancer in H. pylori-infected individuals. However, large and well-designed studies are warranted to validate our findings.