Background: Interleukin-17 (IL-17) is a family of emerged pro-inflammatory cytokines. The IL-17A and IL-17F are two important members of IL-17 family. Previous studies have shown that the functional IL-17A G-197A and IL-17F 7488T/C polymorphisms may contribute to susceptibility to cancer but the results were inconclusive. This meta-analysis was performed to determine the exact association between IL-17 polymorphisms and cancer risk.
Methods: Online databases were searched to identify eligible case-control studies. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by fixed-effect models or random-effect models. Publication bias was detected by Egger's test and Begg's test.
Results: Nine eligible case-control studies of IL-17A G-197A and seven studies of IL-17F 7488T/C, including 3,181 cases and 4,005 controls, were identified. Pooled analysis suggested the variant IL-17A-197A allele was associated with increased risk cancer (GA/AA vs GG, OR =1.27, 95% CI: 1.15, 1.41, P heterogeneity =0.374; and A vs G, OR =1.30, 95% CI: 1.17, 1.45, P heterogeneity =0.021). For IL-17F 7488T/C, the homozygote 7488CC genotype significantly increased risk of cancer (CC vs TC/TT, OR =1.36, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.91, P heterogeneity =0.875; and CC vs TT, OR =1.39, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.88, P heterogeneity =0.979), especially for gastric cancer.
Conclusion: The variant IL-17A-197A allele and IL-17F 7488CC genotype were associated with increased risk of cancer, especially for gastric cancer.
Keywords: gastric cancer; gene polymorphism; interleukin-17; meta-analysis; risk.