RESEARCH ARTICLE The Association between Three Cyclooxygenase-2 Polymorphisms and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk: A Meta- Analysis

Background A quantity of case-control studies have been performed to address the association between three cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) polymorphisms (-1195G/A,-765G/C and +8473T/C) and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, previous research results are incon-sistent. We conducted this meta-analysis to clarify the correlation between these COX-2 polymorphisms and HCC risk. Methods The authors searched in PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar, CNKI andWanFang data-base for relevant articles up to April 28, 2014. The data were extracted by two independent reviewers. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals were calculated. Results A total of 8 studies consisting of 2182 cases and 3324 controls were included in this meta-analysis. For COX-2 polymorphism-1195G/A, an association with increased risk was ob-served under the heterogeneous, homozygous, dominant model. However, COX-2 poly-morphisms (-765G/C and +8473T/C) were not related to HCC risk in this study. We also found a similar result in the subgroup analysis of Chinese population that-1195G/A poly-morphism, instead of-765G/C or +8473T/C polymorphism, was correlated with the risk of HCC