Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T08:40:22.885Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Evaluation of the p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and its association with cancer risk: a HuGE review and meta-analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2015

MOHAMMAD HAROON KHAN*
Affiliation:
Department of Bioinformatics, Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad, Pakistan
AFTAB KHALIL
Affiliation:
Department of Bioinformatics, Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad, Pakistan
HAMID RASHID
Affiliation:
Department of Bioinformatics, Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad, Pakistan
*
* Corresponding author: Dr Mohammad Haroon Khan, Lecturer, Department of Bioinformatics, Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad, Pakistan. Tel: +91 111 87 87 87 ext. 161. Cell: +91 331 5495540. E-mail: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Codon 72 is a hotspot of polymorphisms in the TP53 gene, which encodes a hub protein in the protein–protein interaction network of p53. It is thus a central player in the apoptotic pathway, preventing cancer. A large number of articles have been published exploring its association with an increased susceptibility to most common cancers. However, these studies have produced inconclusive results, which may be due to their small sample sizes or study designs. To comprehensively evaluate the potential correlation between the TP53 Pro72Arg polymorphism and cancer risk and to better characterize the Pro72Arg polymorphism, we performed a systematic HuGE review and meta-analysis of candidate studies through online resources, according to the proposal of MOOSE and the PRISMA statement. The identified articles were carefully examined according to the inclusion criteria. Pooled odds ratios were calculated on the basis of different genetic models, while heterogeneity was assessed through a chi-based Q-test and I2. After applying the inclusion filters, we obtained a pool of 54 eligible studies, representing 18 718 cases and 21 261 controls. Overall, non-significant cancer risk was observed in all the genetic models but their observed heterogeneity was extremely significant. In subgroup analysis, an increased susceptibility was observed in the case of colorectal cancer, while in cancers of the female reproductive system, significantly increased risk was detected in all the genetic models except the dominant model. In another subgroup analysis, significantly increased cancer risk was observed among Asians in homozygous and recessive models, while in Americans increased cancer risk was observed only in dominant and recessive models. No association was observed in the rest of the populations. In conclusion, pooled subgroup analysis on the basis of ethnicity proved that the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism is associated with an increased risk of cancer in Asians and Americans only and is not associated in other populations. It can therefore be concluded that this meta-analysis of available data suggests partial confirmation of the association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and cancer risk susceptibility.

Type
Research Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

1. Introduction

Cancer, a major threat to humanity, is a multi-factorial disorder caused by genetic or environmental factors, or the interactions of these (Bredberg, Reference Bredberg2011). Genetic factors include point mutations or chromosomal aberrations, which can result in the breakdown of the relevant pathways and can enhance cancer susceptibility (Zhang et al., Reference Zhang, Li and Xu2013).

TP53 is a tumor suppressor gene, encoding a transcription factor (hub protein) in the protein–protein interaction network of p53. It is a central player in the apoptotic pathway that detects internal and external signals and effectors, and induces death in response to a number of cellular stresses, thereby preventing cancer stresses (Vogelstein et al., Reference Vogelstein, Lane and Levine2000; Horn & Vousden, Reference Horn and Vousden2007). Unfortunately, >50% of human cancers show alterations in this genome guardian (Milner & Medcalf, Reference Milner and Medcalf1991). More than 20 000 different types of alterations in human TP53 have been observed (Olivier et al., Reference Olivier, Eeles, Hollstein, Khan, Harris and Hainaut2002), with the addition of a number of SNPs that have also been proven to differentially enhance cancer susceptibility in different ethnic groups (Packer et al., Reference Packer, Yeager, Burdett, Welch, Beerman, Qi, Sicotte, Staats, Acharya, Crenshaw, Eckert, Puri, Gerhard and Chanock2006). They may affect the function of the TP53 gene product through increased enigmatic splicing, altering the stability of the downstream transcript, enhanced mutability or differential expression (Lozano & Levine, Reference Lozano and Levine1991; Lozano, Reference Lozano1994).

Codon 72 is a hotspot of polymorphisms in the TP53 gene. rs1042522 is the most studied SNP at this codon, encoding an Arg–Pro substitution (Sprague et al., Reference Sprague, Trentham-Dietz, Garcia-Closas, Newcomb, Titus-Ernstoff, Hampton, Chanock, Haines and Egan2007). Located in the proline-rich region, it can affect the structure of the SH3-binding domain. The gene product with the Arg residue has been found to be more efficient for apoptotic activity as compared to the counterpart with the Pro residue at codon 72. The allelic/variant frequencies of codon 72 differ among different world populations and also are responsible for differential cancer susceptibility in these populations (Dumont et al., Reference Dumont, Leu, Della Pietra, George and Murphy2003).

In recent years, a large number of studies have been published exploring the association of the TP53 Pro72Arg polymorphism and increased susceptibility to most common cancers, including prostate cancer (PCa). The results of a single study may be underpowered due to certain reasons and it is clear from the literature that these studies have reported conflicting results, which may be due to their small sample sizes or study design (Yang et al., Reference Yang, Xu, Lu., Han, Tao, Lu, Wang, Di and Gu2012).To comprehensively evaluate the potential correlation between the TP53 Pro72Arg polymorphism and cancer risk, and to further our understanding and to allow for a more precise characterization of the Pro72Arg polymorphism, we designed a systematic HuGE review and meta-analysis of candidate studies.

2. Materials and methods

This study was undertaken according to the proposal of MOOSE and the PRISMA statement. We performed a systematic search of the relevant literature for articles discussing the TP53 codon 72 (rs1042522) polymorphism and its association with cancer risk. The online resources, including Google scholar, MEDLINE, PubMed and Embase, were used with the combination of terms ‘Arg72 or rs1042522, polymorphism or variant or TP53 or SNP’ and ‘cancer or carcinoma or adenocarcinoma’ (From 2000 to 2014). The identified full-length articles were carefully and systematically examined and retrieved by the co-authors. We only included those studies that were in agreement with our inclusion criteria in the meta-analysis, namely: (1) the publication to be included must be a case-control study; (2) the publication must refer to the association of the TP53 codon 72 polymorphism and cancer risk; (3) the publication must refer to both the sample sizes of cases and controls along with distribution of alleles/genotypes or other necessary information that can help to infer results; (4) if multiple publications are available on the same/overlapping data, the publication with the most recent and largest population will be included in the study; and (5) the language of publication was confined to English only.

The data were extracted independently by all the authors from the eligible articles, and then the results were compared. Disagreements, if any, were resolved by discussion and reasoning, and the following information was collected from each study: name of first author, year of publication, study title, total number of samples (cases and controls), type of cancer, ethnicity and distribution of genotypes in case and control groups, as shown in Fig. 1 and Table 1.

Fig. 1. A general flow diagram of study identification according to MOOSE and PRISMA statement.

Table 1. Characteristics of case-control studies included in the meta-analysis.

ABCS, Amsterdam Breast Cancer Study, Netherlands; BBC, British Breast Cancer, London, UK; CIN, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; EABT, extra-axial brain tumour; Familial BCa, familial breast cancer; HaBCS, Hannover Breast Cancer Study, Germany; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; HeBCS, Helsinki Breast Cancer Study, Finland; SCCHN, squamous cell cancer of the head and neck; SEARCH, Study of Epidemiology & Risk Factors in Cancer Heredity, Cambridge, UK; Sporadic BCa, sporadic breast cancer.

We performed the meta-analysis according to the criteria described earlier. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) was calculated using Fisher's exact/chi-square for each study, and P < 0·05 was considered statistically significant. We only included those studies that were in agreement with HWE. The strength of association between the TP53 Pro72Arg polymorphism and cancer risk was assessed through odds ratios (ORs) along with their 95%CI. Pooled ORs were calculated on the basis of four different genetic models, including CC vs. GG, CC vs. CG, dominant and recessive models. We further subdivided the association by analyzing by ethnicity and cancer type. Ethnicity was classified into Asian, European, American (North and South), Australian and African populations. We assessed heterogeneity through chi-based Q-tests, and P > 0·10 was considered statistically significant. In cases lacking heterogeneity among the studies, the Mantel-Haenszel (fixed effects) model was used to calculate the pooled ORs; otherwise, the random effects model was used. I2 was also calculated to quantitatively assess the percentage of variation among the studies as a result of heterogeneity. The values were classified into four classes to generalize the observed heterogeneity, as follows: zero value = no observed heterogeneity, values > 0⩽25% = low observed heterogeneity, values > 25%⩽50% = moderate observed heterogeneity, values > 50%⩽75% = high observed heterogeneity and values > 75% = very high observed heterogeneity. We confirmed the stability of the results through the sensitivity analysis, and we examined publication bias through funnel plots and qualitatively by Egger's test. All the statistical analysis was conducted by using comprehensive Meta Analysis Software version 2.2·064.

3. Results

After a comprehensive search, we identified a total of 257 publications and reviewed them using the defined inclusion criteria (Fig. 1). After applying the inclusion filters we obtained a pool of 54 eligible studies, representing a total of 18 718 cases and 21 261controls for the p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism. Some of the included articles consist of more than one study; for these, each study was considered as an independent data set. The main characteristics of all the included data sets are listed in Table 1, and Table 2 consists of the quantitative results of this meta-analysis and their heterogeneity. As shown in Table 2, the data sets included different studies from different world populations, including 24 from Asian, 17 from European, ten from American (North and South), one from Australia and two from African populations.

Table 2. Pooled analysis of association of P72R (rs1042522) polymorphism and cancer risk.

CI, confidence intervals, I2, percentage of variation across studies as a result of heterogeneity; OR, odds ratio.

Overall, non-significantly elevated cancer risk was found in all the genetic models (CC vs. GG, OR: 1·14, 95%CI: 0·96–1·12, I2 = 77·54, P = 0·000; CC vs. CG, OR: 1·10, 95%CI: 0·96–1·27, I2 = 70·64, P = 0·000; dominant, OR: 1·07, 95%CI: 0·97–1·17, I2 = 69·97, P = 0·000; recessive, OR: 1·13, 95%CI: 0·98–1·30, I2 = 74·85, P = 0·000) but the observed heterogeneity was extremely significant in the models. To further focus our analysis, we stratified the data into subgroups on the basis of cancer types and population/ethnicity. An increased susceptibility was observed in the results of all genetic models in the case of colorectal cancer (CC vs. GG, OR: 2·73, 95%CI: 1·54–4·84, I2 = 75·19, P = 0·007; CC vs. CG, OR: 1·65, 95%CI: 1·34–2·04, I2 = 0·00, P = 0·731; dominant, OR: 1·95, 95%CI: 1·20–3·15, I2 = 73·36, P = 0·010; recessive, OR: 1·93, 95%CI: 1·44–2·59, I2 = 48·02, P = 0·123), while in cancers of the female reproductive system, significantly increased risk was detected in all the genetic models except the dominant model (CC vs. GG, OR: 1·61, 95%CI: 1·33–1·95, I2 = 75·09, P = 0·000; CC vs. CG, OR: 1·65, 95%CI: 1·36–2·01, I2 = 77·99, P = 0·000; recessive: OR: 1·71, 95%CI: 1·42–2·04, I2 = 79·19, P = 0·000). In the case of pancreatic cancer, only the dominant model (OR: 1·30, 95%CI: 1·01–1·67, I2 = 90·21, P = 0·001) was found to be associated with increased risk, while no association/significant association was observed for the rest of the cancer types included in the study.

In the subgroup analysis on the basis of ethnicity, significantly increased cancer risk was observed among Asians in CC vs. GG (OR: 1·14, 95%CI: 1·03–1·26, I2 = 78·73, P = 0·000) and recessive models (CC vs. GG+CG, OR: 1·17, 95%CI: 1·06–1·29, I2 = 83·07, P = 0·000), while in Americans significantly increased cancer risk was observed in dominant (OR: 1·33, 95%CI: 1·06–1·68, I2 = 74·82, P = 0·000) and recessive models (OR: 1·22, 95%CI: 1·01–1·46, I2 = 72·78, P = 0·000). No association was observed in rest of the populations (Table 2).

(i) Publication bias and sensitivity analysis

Publication bias was assessed both through the visual inspection of the funnel plots symmetry and the statistical evidence of the Begg's and Mazumdar's rank correlation test and Egger's linear regression method (CC vs. GG, Kendall's tau = 0·015, two tailed P = 0·86; Egger: bias = 0·93 [95% CI: -0·28–2·14], two tailed P = 0·05; CC vs. CG, Kendall's tau = 0·1, two tailed P = 0·3; Egger: bias = 1·11 [95%CI: -0·02–2·24], two tailed P = 0·053; dominant, Kendall's tau = −0·07, two tailed P = 0·42; Egger: bias = 0·36 [95%CI: -0·52–1·26], two tailed P = 0·41; recessive, Kendall's tau = 0·1, two tailed P = 0·30; Egger: bias = 1·08 [95%CI: -0·14–2·31], two tailed P = 0·08).

4. Discussion

We explored the association of the TP53 P72R polymorphism and increased cancer susceptibility in this study, including 54 eligible case-control studies representing 18 718 cases and 21 261 controls. We observed that the presence of the TP53 P72R polymorphism showed no association with increased cancer susceptibility in the overall pooled analysis, while in the subgroup analysis, the cancer risk was significantly pronounced in colorectal cancer and cancers of the female reproductive system. However, no significant association of the polymorphism was observed in the rest of the cases.

TP53 is one of the most widely explored genes because of its role as a tumor suppressor, playing a major role both in cancer development and progression. There were many epidemiological studies available on its genetic association, expounding the correlation of the TP53 P72R polymorphism and increased cancer risk, but their results were controversial (Anzola et al., Reference Anzola, Cuevas, Lopez-Martinez, Saiz, Burgos and de Pancorbo2003; Yoon et al., Reference Yoon, Chang, Ahn, Kim, Park, Kang, Park, Myoung, Kim do, Chon and Han2008; Di Vuolo et al., Reference Di Vuolo, Buonaguro, Izzo, Losito, Botti, Buonaguro and Tornesello2011; Sumbul et al., Reference Sumbul, Akkız, Bayram, Bekar, Akgollu and Sandıkci2012). The conflicting results may partially be due to the small sample sizes of the studies and sampling effects, because each of these studies typically involved relatively few cases and controls.

(i) Hepatocellular carcinoma

Chen et al. (Reference Chen, Liu, Li, Wei, Yan and Wen2011) studied the correlation of the TP53 R72P polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk, including six studies. They were unable to provide any evidence of an association in Caucasians and Asians. Similar results were published in another study by Xu et al. (Reference Xu, Zheng, Dai, Du, Liu, Zhao and Li2012) based on ten case-control studies with a total of 2026 cases and 2733 controls. In subgroup analyses stratified on the basis of ethnicity, they showed that the polymorphism was associated with increased risk of HCC in Caucasians under the allelic contrast model (C vs. G, OR: 1·20, 95%CI: 1·03–1·41), homozygous model (CC vs. GG, OR: 1·74, 95%CI: 1·23–2·47) and recessive model (CC vs. CG+GG, OR: 1·85, 95%CI: 1·33–2·57). They further reported that the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism may have a race-specific effect on HCC risk. Lv et al. (Reference Lv, Wang, Zhou and Sun2013) performed another meta-analysis on the same topic, including 11 case-control studies with a total of 2718 cases and 3752 controls. Overall, significantly increased risk of HCC was identified among carriers of the homozygous genotype CC vs. GG (OR: 1·38, 95%CI: 1·03–1·85) and recessive model (CC vs. CG+GG, OR: 1·28, 95%CI: 1·03–1·59). In the subgroup analysis, on the basis of ethnicity, increased risk of HCC was observed in their results in Asians and Caucasians. In Asians, association was observed in the recessive model (CC vs. GG+CG, OR: 1·17, 95%CI: 1·02–1·34), while in Caucasians association was observed in the homozygous model (CC vs. GG, OR: 1·65, 95%CI: 1·07–2·56) and recessive model (CC vs. CG+GG, OR: 1·74, 95%CI: 1·14–2·66). This meta-analysis suggests that the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism may play a critical role in HCC development, and gender and family history may not modulate the effect of this polymorphism on HCC risk. Hu et al. (Reference Hu, Zhao, Yang and Hu2014) also examined the validity of the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and its association with increased susceptibility of HCC. They identified 15 eligible studies with 3704 cases and 4559 controls, but their results did not support any association in between the Pro (C) allele and HCC risk. However, subgroup analysis showed significant associations between the G to C polymorphism and susceptibility to HCC when stratifying by race etc. In Asians, G vs. C, OR: 0·39, 95%CI: 0·36–0·41; GG vs. CC, OR: 0·85, 95%CI: 0·74–0·98; CG vs. CC, OR: 0·88, 95%CI: 0·78–1·00; GG+CG vs. CC, OR: 0·87, 95%CI: 0·78–0·98; in the Caucasian population, C vs. G, OR: 0·27, 95%CI: 0·24–0·32; GG vs. CC, OR: 0·61, 95%CI: 0·39–0·94; CG vs. CC, OR: 0·55, 95%CI; 0·35–0·87; GG+CG vs. CC, OR: 0·57, 95%CI; 0·38–0·88. This meta-analysis suggests that the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism may be associated with increased risk of HCC, especially in subgroup analysis of Asian and Caucasian populations.

(ii) Sarcoma

Chang and Yu (Reference Chang and Yu2014) designed a study to examine the association between the p53 codon 72 polymorphism and sarcoma risk among Caucasians. Their results did not provide any statistical evidence for significant sarcoma risk associated with the TP53 codon 72 polymorphism (G vs. C, OR: 1·03, 95%CI: 0·90–1·18; GG vs. CC, OR: 1·00, 95%CI: 0·80–1·26; GG+CG vs. CC, OR: 0·99, 95%CI; 0·83–1·19; GG vs. CG+CC, OR: 1·09, 95%CI: 0·89–1·35; CG vs. CC, OR: 0·95, 95%CI: 0·71–1·27). They also did not find any significant links in the subgroup analysis on the basis of ethnicity and sarcoma type. Their results therefore suggest that the TP53 codon 72 polymorphism may not play a role in sarcoma development in the Caucasian population.

(iii) Glioma

He et al. (Reference He, Xia, Liu, Li and Wang2013) performed a meta-analysis on the association between the TP53 codon 72 polymorphism and glioma risk, but no pronounced association was observed in their overall pooled analysis (C vs. G, OR: 1·04, 95%CI: 0·90–1·20; CC vs. GG, OR: 0·95, 95%CI: 0·80–1·14; CG vs. GG, OR: 1·01, 95%CI: 0·79–1·29; CG+CC vs. GG, OR: 1·03, 95%CI: 0·82–1·29; CC vs. GG+CG, OR: 1·02, 95%CI: 0·86–1·22). In subgroup analysis, the polymorphism was again proven to have no affect on glioma risk in population-based, hospital-based, astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma studies among Caucasians. Similar results were also produced by other researchers (Zhu et al., Reference Zhu, Lu, Li, Yao and Xu2014) in their study, performed on similar disorders (the allele contrast, OR: 1·04, 95%CI: 0·94–1·16; CC vs. GG, OR: 1·01, 95%CI: 0·83–1·22; the dominant model, OR: 1·02, 95%CI; 0·93–1·12; recessive model, OR: 1·06, 95%CI: 0·88–1·28; and the heterozygote genotypes: CG vs. GG, OR: 1·03, 95%CI: 0·90–1·17, P = 0·082). In the subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity, neither the subjects of Asian descent nor the subjects of Caucasian descent showed any effect on glioma risk. Another meta-analysis of the same disorder and same polymorphism also showed that there is no association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and increased risk of glioma (C vs. G, OR: 1·02, 95%CI: 0·85–1·22; CC vs. GG, OR: 1·06, 95%CI: 0·85–1·34; CC+CG vs. GG, OR: 1·07, 95%CI: 0·91–1·27), and the same results were again observed in the subgroup analysis by ethnicity especially in Caucasians. However, a slight association was recorded in the case of Asians (OR: 1·42, 95%CI: 1·00–2·02) (Zhang et al., Reference Zhang, Li, Li, Li, Sun, Li and Li2014). It can therefore be inferred that there is limited available evidence for an association between the TP53 codon 72 polymorphism and glioma risk and thus more comprehensive and systematic studies are needed to provide a more comprehensive evaluation of this polymorphism in Asians.

(iv) Urologic cancers

Li et al. (Reference Li, Wei, Jiang, Wang and Xu2010) investigated bladder cancer in their meta-analysis performed with six studies, and found that the patients had a comparatively lower frequency of CG genotypes (OR: 0·80, 95%CI: 0·64–0·99). In the subgroup analysis, Caucasian patients were found to have a higher frequency of GG (OR: 1·64, 95%CI: 1·18–2·28) than CG (OR: 0·62, 95%CI: 0·44–0·86). In another subgroup analysis on the basis of cancer stage, they further observed that the invasive bladder cancers had comparatively lower frequency of GG (OR: 0·58, 95%CI: 0·36–0·93) and higher frequency of CG (OR: 0·62, 95%CI: 0·44–0·86) than the non-invasive bladder cancers. On the basis of these results they suggested that the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism is significantly associated with bladder cancer and its genotypic distribution varies with the cancer stage. Another group of researchers determined more precisely the relationship between the p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and PCa risk. Their analysis was based on 17 case-control studies involving 2371 PCa cases and 2854 controls. In the overall pooled analysis, their results showed a non-significant association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and PCa risk in all genetic models. However, significant association was observed in Caucasians in the co-dominant (OR: 1·57, 95%CI: 1·08–2·28, P = 0·017) and recessive model (CC vs. CG+GG, OR: 1·60, 95%CI: 1·12–2·27, P = 0·009) when the included studies were limited only to those conforming the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (Lu et al., Reference Lu, Liu, Zeng, He, Peng, Deng, Wang, Xie, Li, Qin and Li2014). It was therefore concluded that the CC genotype of the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism is significantly associated with increased risk of PCa in Caucasians.

(v) Cancers of the female reproductive system

Tang et al. (Reference Tang, He, Chan and Luo2012) performed a meta-analysis to estimate any possible correlation between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and endometrial cancer. Nine published studies, with a total of 829 cases and 1387 controls, were included in the study. Their overall pooled results suggested a non-significant association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and cancer risk, especially in Caucasians and Asians in any of the genetic models (additive model, OR: 1·027, 95%CI: 0·893–1·18, P = 0·71; recessive model, OR: 1·099, 95%CI: 0·802–1·507, P = 0·556; dominant model, OR: 1·013, 95%CI: 0·842–1·219, P = 0·89). A recent study performed by Alqumber et al. (Reference Alqumber, Akhter, Haque, Panda and Mandal2014) investigated the association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and susceptibility to ovarian cancer. The meta-analysis, which was based on 12 studies including 993 cases and 1264 controls, showed non-significant association (C vs. G, OR: 0·980, 95%CI: 0·677–1·419; CC vs. GG, OR: 0·731, 95%CI: 0·341–1·564; CG vs. GG, OR: 1·237, 95%CI: 0·862–1·773; dominant model, OR: 1·089, 95%CI: 0·706–1·681; recessive model, OR: 0·754, 95%CI: 0·428–1·329). Similar results were recorded in the subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity in the Caucasian population.

There are many studies available investigating the association of the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and the risk of other cancers. Dai et al. (Reference Dai, Gast, Horska, Schrappe, Bartram, Hemminki, Kumar and Bermejo2009) suggested in their meta-analysis performed on 32 case-control studies that the Pro allele of the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism was emerging as a low-penetrance susceptibility allele for the development of lung cancer. Zhou et al. (Reference Zhou, Li, Zhuang, Liu, Wu, Yao, Du, Wei and Wu2007) observed that the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism was significantly associated with gastric cancer among Asians. They also suggested that variations in genotype distribution may be due to location, stage and histological differentiation. Similar results were produced in another study conducted on cervical cancer. The researchers found that the TP53 GG genotype at codon 72 did not seem to represent a risk marker for the development of cervical lesions in the majority of the European countries studied (Sousa et al., Reference Sousa, Santos, Pinto and Medeiros2007).

We tried our best to include the most recent publications in our study. Our results are consistent with those of Zhang et al. (Reference Zhang, Shao, Yu, Hua, Mi and Feng2011), who also observed non-significant association between the TP53 Pro72Arg polymorphism and overall PCa risk (allelic contrast, RR: 1·02, 95%CI: 0·96–1·09; homozygous model, RR: 1·12, 95%CI: 0·74–1·70; heterozygous model, RR: 1·22, 95%CI: 0·94–1·60; dominant model, RR: 1·05, 95%CI: 1·00–1·11; recessive model, RR: 0·96, 95%CI: 0·67–1·37). They also found the same results in a stratified analysis in all genotype models by ethnicity. Moreover, no associations of the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism with colorectal cancer (Dahabreh et al., Reference Dahabreh, Linardou, Bouzika, Varvarigou and Murray2010) and breast cancer (Ma et al., Reference Ma, Yang, Liu, Zhang, Yang, Wang and Qin2010) risk were observed.

The limitations of our meta-analysis include the following: (1) Some of the included studies have rather small sample sizes, which were technically not satisfactory to determine any possible association in between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and cancer risk; (2) cancer being a multi-factorial, complex disease, different interactions such as gene–gene, gene–environment and protein–protein interactions may be further evaluated to better understand the complexities in depth; and (3) the majority of the literature is focused on the association between the TP53 Arg72pro polymorphism and cancer risk, which are usually not concerned with the haplotype effects on cancer development.

In the present meta-analysis, there were 24 studies from Asians, 17 from Europe, ten from America (North and South), two from Africa and one from Australia. Pooled subgroup analysis on the basis of ethnicity showed that the TP53Arg72Pro polymorphism is associated with increased risk of cancer only in Asians and Americans but not in other populations. On the basis of our results, it can be inferred that this association is still vague in different populations, and so more studies with larger sample sizes are needed for more systematic and comprehensive assessment, especially in Asians. It can therefore be concluded that, this meta-analysis of available data suggests partial confirmation of the association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and cancer risk susceptibility.

The authors would like to extend thanks to Ms Raisa Bano and Mr Shahid Hussain for their technical assistance.

Author contributions

All the authors were directly involved in the whole process, therefore it is disclosed that all the authors contributed equally towards the research.

Declaration of interest

None.

References

Agorastos, T., Masouridou, S., Lambropoulos, A. F., Chrisafi, S., Miliaras, D., Pantazis, K., Constantinides, T. C., Kotsis, A. & Bontis, I. (2004). P53 codon 72 polymorphism and correlation with ovarian and endometrial cancer in Greek women. European Journal of Cancer Prevention 13, 277280.Google Scholar
Almeida, L. O., Custodio, A. C., Pinto, G. R., Santos, M. J., Almeida, J. R., Clara, C. A., Rey, J. A. & Casartelli, C. (2009). Polymorphisms and DNA methylation of gene TP53 associated with extra-axial brain tumors. Genetics and Molecular Research 8, 818.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alqumber, M. A., Akhter, N., Haque, S., Panda, A. K. & Mandal, R. K. (2014). Evaluating the association between p53 codon 72 Arg>Pro polymorphism and risk of ovary cancer: a meta-analysis. PLoS ONE 9, e94874.Google Scholar
Anzola, M., Cuevas, N., Lopez-Martinez, M., Saiz, A., Burgos, J. J. & de Pancorbo, M. M. (2003). Frequent loss of p53 codon 72 Pro variant in hepatitis C virus-positive carriers with hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer Letters 193, 199205.Google Scholar
Ashton, K. A., Proietto, A., Otton, G., Symonds, I., McEvoy, M., Attia, J., Gilbert, M., Hamann, U. & Scott, R. J. (2009). Polymorphisms in TP53 and MDM2 combined are associated with high grade endometrial cancer. Gynecologic Oncology 113, 109114.Google Scholar
Boroujeni, H. R., Karimi, M., Moshkelani, S. & Parsaei, P. (2013). Association of the p53 codon 72 polymorphism with breast cancer in central part of Iran. African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 7, 356359.Google Scholar
Bredberg, A. (2011). Cancer: more of polygenic disease and less of multiple mutations? A quantitative viewpoint. Cancer 117, 440445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chang-Claude, J., Ambrosone, C. B., Lilla, C., Kropp, S., Helmbold, I., von Fournier, D., Haase, W., Sautter-Bihl, M. L., Wenz, F., Schmezer, P. & Popanda, O. (2009). Genetic polymorphisms in DNA repair and damage response genes and late normal tissue complications of radiotherapy for breast cancer. British Journal of Cancer 100, 16801686.Google Scholar
Chang, Z. & Yu, X. (2014). Association between p53 codon 72 polymorphism and sarcoma risk among Caucasians. Tumour Biology 35, 48074812.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, X., Liu, F., Li, B., Wei, Y. G., Yan, L. N. & Wen, T. F. (2011). p53 codon 72 polymorphism and liver cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies. World Journal of Gastroenterology 17, 12111218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costa, S., Pinto, D., Pereira, D., Rodrigues, H., Cameselle-Teijeiro, J., Medeiros, R. & Schmitt, F. (2008). Importance of TP53 codon 72 and intron 3 duplication 16 bp polymorphisms in prediction of susceptibility on breast cancer. BMC Cancer 8, 32.Google Scholar
Dahabreh, I. J., Linardou, H., Bouzika, P., Varvarigou, V. & Murray, S. (2010). TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and colorectal cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 19, 18401847.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dai, L., Gast, A., Horska, A., Schrappe, M., Bartram, C. R., Hemminki, K., Kumar, R. & Bermejo, J. L. (2009). A case-control study of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and polymorphisms in the TGF-(beta) and receptor genes. Pediatric Blood & Cancer 52, 819823.Google Scholar
Dastjerdi, M. N. (2011). TP53 codon 72 polymorphism and P53 protein expression in colorectal cancer specimens in Isfahan. Acta Medica Iranica 49, 7177.Google ScholarPubMed
Di Vuolo, V., Buonaguro, L., Izzo, F., Losito, S., Botti, G., Buonaguro, F. M. & Tornesello, M. L. (2011). TP53 and MDM2 gene polymorphisms and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma among Italian patients. Infectious Agents and Cancer 6, 13.Google Scholar
Dumont, P., Leu, J. I., Della Pietra, A. C. 3rd, George, D. L. & Murphy, M. (2003). The codon 72 polymorphic variants of p53 have markedly different apoptotic potential. Nature Genetics 33, 357365.Google Scholar
Ezzikouri, S. E., Feydi, A. E. & Chafik, A. (2007). The Pro variant of the p53 codon 72 polymorphism is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma in Moroccan population. Hepatology Research 37, 748754.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallegos-Arreola, M. P., Figuera-Villanueva, L. E., Puebla-Perez, A. M., Montoya-Fuentes, H., Suarez-Rincon, A. E. & Zuniga-Gonzalez, G. M. (2012). Association of TP53 gene codon 72 polymorphism with endometriosis in Mexican women. Genetics and Molecular Research 11(2), 14011408.Google Scholar
Ghasemi, N., Karimi-Zarchi, M., Mortazavi-Zadeh, M. R. & Atash-Afza, A. (2010). Evaluation of the frequency of TP53 gene codon 72 polymorphisms in Iranian patients with endometrial cancer. Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics 196, 167170.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
He, F., Xia, Y., Liu, H., Li, J. & Wang, C. (2013). P53 codon 72 GG polymorphism and glioma risk: an updated meta-analysis. Tumour Biology 34, 31213130.Google Scholar
Henner, W. D., Evans, A. J., Hough, K. M., Harris, E. L., Lowe, B. A. & Beer, T. M. (2001). Association of codon 72 polymorphism of p53 with lower prostate cancer risk. Prostate 49, 263266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hirata, H., Hinoda, Y., Kikuno, N., Kawamoto, K., Dahiya, A. V., Suehiro, Y., Tanaka, Y. & Dahiya, R. (2007). CXCL12 G801A polymorphism is a risk factor for sporadic prostate cancer susceptibility. Clinical Cancer Research 13, 50565062.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hirata, H., Hinoda, Y., Kikuno, N., Suehiro, Y., Shahryari, V., Ahmad, A. E., Tabatabai, Z. L., Igawa, M. & Dahiya, R. (2009). Bcl2 -938C/A polymorphism carries increased risk of biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Journal of Urology 181, 19071912.Google Scholar
Horn, H. F. & Vousden, K. H. (2007). Coping with stress: multiple ways to activate p53. Oncogene 26, 13061316.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hu, S., Zhao, L., Yang, J. & Hu, M. (2014). The association between polymorphism of P53 Codon72 CG and hepatocellular carcinoma susceptibility: evidence from a meta-analysis of 15 studies with 3,704 cases. Tumour Biology 35, 36473656.Google Scholar
Huang, S. P., Wu, W. J., Chang, W. S., Wu, M. T., Chen, Y. Y., Chen, Y. J., Yu, C. C., Wu, T. T., Lee, Y. H., Huang, J. K. & Huang, C. H. (2004). p53 codon 72 and p21 codon 31 polymorphisms in prostate cancer. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 13, 22172224.Google Scholar
Jha, P., Jha, P., Pathak, P., Chosdol, K., Suri, V., Sharma, M. C., Kumar, G., Singh, M., Mahapatra, A. K. & Sarkar, C. (2011). TP53 polymorphisms in gliomas from Indian patients: study of codon 72 genotype, rs1642785, rs1800370 and 16 base pair insertion in intron-3. Experimental Molecular Pathology 90, 167172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koshiol, J., Hildesheimm, A., Gonzalez, P., Bratti, M. C., Porras, C., Schiffman, M., Herrero, R., Rodriguez, A. C., Wacholder, S., Yeager, M., Chanock, S. J., Burk, R. D. & Wang, S. S. (2009). Common genetic variation in TP53 and risk of human papillomavirus persistence and progression to CIN3/cancer revisited. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 18, 631637.Google Scholar
Leiros, G, J., Galliano, S. R., Sember, M. E, Kahn, T., Schwarz, E. & Eiguchi, K. (2005). Detection of human papillomavirus DNA and p53 codon 72 polymorphism in prostate carcinomas of patients from Argentina. BMC Urology 5, 15.Google Scholar
Leveri, M., Gritti, C. & Rossi, L. (2004). Codon 72 polymorphism of P53 gene does not affect the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma in HCV-infected patients. Cancer Letters 208, 7579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, D. B., Wei, X., Jiang, L. H., Wang, Y. & Xu, F. (2010). Meta-analysis of epidemiological studies of association of P53 codon 72 polymorphism with bladder cancer. Genetics and Molecular Research 9, 15991605.Google Scholar
Lozano, G. & Levine, A. J. (1991). Tissue-specific expression of p53 in transgenic mice is regulated by intron sequences. Molecular Carcinogenesis 4, 39.Google Scholar
Lozano, J. S. (1994). Introns: evolution and function. Current Opinion in Genetics & Development 4, 823831.Google Scholar
Lu, Y., Liu, Y., Zeng, J., He, Y., Peng, Q., Deng, Y., Wang, J., Xie, L., Li, T., Qin, X. & Li, S. (2014). Association of p53 codon 72 polymorphism with prostate cancer: an update meta-analysis. Tumour Biology 35, 39974005.Google Scholar
Lv, L., Wang, P., Zhou, X. & Sun, B. (2013). Association between the p53 codon 72 CG polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma risk. Tumour Biology 34, 14511459.Google Scholar
Ma, Y., Yang, J., Liu, Z., Zhang, P., Yang, Z., Wang, Y. & Qin, H. (2010). No significant association between the TP53 codon 72 polymorphism and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis of 21 studies involving 24,063 subjects. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 125, 201205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mabuchi, F., Sakurada, Y., Kashiwagi, K., Yamagata, Z., Iijima, H. & Tsukahara, S. (2009). Lack of association between p53 gene polymorphisms and primary open angle glaucoma in the Japanese population. Molecular Vision 15, 10451049.Google Scholar
Malmer, B. S., Feychting, M., Lonn, S., Lindstrom, S., Gronberg, H., Ahlbom, A., Schwartzbaum, J., Auvinen, A., Collatz-Christensen, H., Johansen, C., Kiuru, A., Mudie, N., Salminen, T., Schoemaker, M. J., Swerdlow, A. J. & Henriksson, R. (2007). Genetic variation in p53 and ATM haplotypes and risk of glioma and meningioma. Journal of Neuro-Oncology 82, 229237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mędrek, K., Magnowski, P., Masojc, B., Chudecka-Głaz, A., Torbe, B., Menkiszak, J., Spaczyński, M., Gronwald, J., Lubinski, J. & Gorski, B. (2013). Association of common WRAP 53 variant with ovarian cancer risk in the Polish population. Molecular Biology Reports 40, 21452147.Google Scholar
Milner, J. & Medcalf, E. A. (1991). Cotranslation of activated mutant p53 with wild type drives the wild-type p53 protein into the mutant conformation. Cell 65, 765774.Google Scholar
Naccarati, A., Pardini, B., Polakova, V., Smerhovsky, Z., Vodickova, L., Soucek, P., Vrana, D., Holcatova, I., Ryska, M. & Vodicka, P. (2010). Genotype and haplotype analysis of TP53 gene and the risk of pancreatic cancer: an association study in the Czech Republic. Carcinogenesis 31, 666670.Google Scholar
Niwa, Y., Hirose, K., Matsuo, K., Tajima, K., Ikoma, Y., Nakanishi, T., Nawa, A., Kuzuya, K., Tamakoshi, A. & Hamajima, N. (2005). Association of p73 G4C14-to-A4T14 polymorphism at exon 2 and p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism with the risk of endometrial cancer in Japanese subjects. Cancer Letters 219, 183190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nunobiki, O., Ueda, M., Yamamoto, M., Toji, E., Sato, N., Izuma, S., Okamoto, Y., Torii, K. & Noda, S. (2009). Polymorphisms of p53 codon 72 and MDM2 promoter 309 and the risk of endometrial cancer. Human Cell 22, 101106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olivier, M., Eeles, R., Hollstein, M., Khan, M. A., Harris, C. C. & Hainaut, P. (2002). The IARC TP53 database: new online mutation analysis and recommendations to users. Human Mutation 19, 607614.Google Scholar
Packer, B. R., Yeager, M., Burdett, L., Welch, R., Beerman, M., Qi, L., Sicotte, H., Staats, B., Acharya, M., Crenshaw, A., Eckert, A., Puri, V., Gerhard, D. S. & Chanock, S. J. (2006). SNP500Cancer: a public resource for sequence validation, assay development, and frequency analysis for genetic variation in candidate genes. Nucleic Acids Research 34, D617D621.Google Scholar
Pinto, G. R., Yoshioka, F. K., Silva, R. L., Clara, C. A., Santos, M. J., Almeida, J. R., Burbano, R. R., Rey, J. A. & Casartelli, C. (2008). Prognostic value of TP53 Pro47Ser and Arg72Pro single nucleotide polymorphisms and the susceptibility to gliomas in individuals from Southeast Brazil. Genetics and Molecular Research 7, 207216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Proestling, K., Hebar, A., Pruckner, N., Marton, E., Vinatzer, U. & Schreiber, M. (2012). The Pro allele of the p53 codon 72 polymorphism is associated with decreased intratumoral expression of BAX and p21, and increased breast cancer risk. PLoS One 7, e47325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quinones, L. A., Irarrazabal, C. E., Rojas, C. R., Orellana, C. E., Acevedo, C., Huidobro, C., Varela, N. E. & Caceres, D. D. (2006). Joint effect among p53, CYP1A1, GSTM1 polymorphism combinations and smoking on prostate cancer risk: an exploratory genotype-environment interaction study. Asian Journal of Andrology 8, 349355.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ricks-Santi, L., Mason, T., Apprey, V., Ahaghotu, C., McLauchlin, A., Josey, D., Bonney, G. & Dunston, G. M. (2010). p53 Pro72Arg polymorphism and prostate cancer in men of African descent. Prostate 70, 17391745.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sameer, A. S., Shah, Z. A., Syeed, N., Banday, M. Z., Bashir, S. M., Bhat, B. A. & Siddiqi, M. A. (2010). TP53 Pro47Ser and Arg72Pro polymorphisms and colorectal cancer predisposition in an ethnic Kashmiri population. Genetics and Molecular Research 9, 651660.Google Scholar
Samson, M., Swaminathan, R., Rama, R., Sridevi, V., Nancy, K. N. & Rajkumar, T. (2007). Role of GSTM1 (null/present), GSTP1 (Ile105Val) and P53 (Arg72Pro) genetic polymorphisms and the risk of breast cancer: a case control study from South India. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 8, 253257.Google Scholar
Schmidt, M. K., Reincke, S., Broeks, A., Braaf, L. M., Hogervorst, F. B., Tollenaar, R. A., Johnson, N., Fletcher, O., Peto, J., Tommiska, J., Blomqvist, C., Nevanlinna, H. A., Healey, C. S., Dunning, A. M., Pharoah, P. D., Easton, D. F., Dork, T., Van't Veer, L. J. & Breast Cancer Association Consortium (2007). Do MDM2 SNP309 and TP53 R72P interact in breast cancer susceptibility? A large pooled series from the breast cancer association consortium. Cancer Research 67, 95849590.Google Scholar
Sonoyama, T., Sakai, A., Mita, Y., Yasuda, Y., Kawamoto, H., Yagi, T., Yoshioka, M., Mimura, T., Nakachi, K., Ouchida, M., Yamamoto, K. & Shimizu, K. (2011). TP53 codon 72 polymorphism is associated with pancreatic cancer risk in males, smokers and drinkers. Molecular Medicine Reports 4, 489495.Google Scholar
Sousa, H., Santos, A. M., Pinto, D. & Medeiros, R. (2007). Is the p53 codon 72 polymorphism a key biomarker for cervical cancer development? A meta-analysis review within European populations. International Journal of Molecular Medicine 20, 731741.Google Scholar
Sprague, B. L., Trentham-Dietz, A., Garcia-Closas, M., Newcomb, P. A., Titus-Ernstoff, L., Hampton, J. M., Chanock, S. J., Haines, J. L. & Egan, K. M. (2007). Genetic variation in TP53 and risk of breast cancer in a population-based case control study. Carcinogenesis 28, 16801686.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sumbul, A. T., Akkız, H., Bayram, S., Bekar, A., Akgollu, E. & Sandıkci, M. (2012). p53 codon 72 polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma in the Turkish population: a case-control study. Molecular Biology Reports 39, 16391647.Google Scholar
Suzuki, K., Matsui, H., Ohtake, N., Nakata, S., Takei, T., Nakazato, H., Okugi, H., Koike, H., Ono, Y., Ito, K., Kurokawa, K. & Yamanaka, H. (2003). A p53 codon 72 polymorphism associated with prostate cancer development and progression in Japanese. Journal of Biomedical Science 10, 430435.Google Scholar
Tang, W., He, X., Chan, Y. & Luo, Y. (2012). Lack of association between p53 codon 72 polymorphism and endometrial cancer: a meta-analysis. Cancer Epidemiology 36, e153e157.Google Scholar
Ueda, M., Terai, Y., Kanda, K., Kanemura, M., Takehara, M., Yamaguchi, H., Nishiyama, K., Yasuda, M. & Ueki, M. (2006). Germline polymorphism of p53 codon 72 in gynecological cancer. Gynecologic. Oncology 100, 173178.Google Scholar
Vogelstein, B., Lane, D. & Levine, A. J. (2000). Surfing the p53 network. Nature 408, 307310.Google Scholar
Wang, L. E., Bondy, M. L., Shen, H., El-Zein, R., Aldape, K., Cao, Y., Pudavalli, V., Levin, V. A., Yung, W. K. & Wei, Q. (2004). Polymorphisms of DNA repair genes and risk of glioma. Cancer Research 64, 55605563.Google Scholar
Wu, H. C., Chang, C. H., Chen, H. Y., Tsai, F. J., Tsai, J. J. & Chen, W. C. (2004). p53 gene codon 72 polymorphism but not tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene is associated with prostate cancer. Urology International 73, 4146.Google Scholar
Wu, X., Gu, J., Grossman, H. B., Amos, C. I., Etzel, C., Huang, M., Zhang, Q., Millikan, R. E., Lerner, S., Dinney, C. P. & Spitz, M. R. (2006). Bladder cancer predisposition: a multigenic approach to DNA-repair and cell-cycle-control genes. American Journal of Human Genetics 78, 464479.Google Scholar
Xu, B., Xu, Z., Cheng, G., Min, Z. C., Mi, Y., Zhang, Z. Z., Tao, J., Li, P. C., Wang, M. L., Tang, J. L., Zhang, Z. D., Zhang, W., Wu, H. F., Feng, N. H. & Hua, L. X. (2010). Association between polymorphisms of TP53 and MDM2 and prostate cancer risk in southern Chinese. Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics 202, 7681.Google Scholar
Xu, C. T., Zheng, F., Dai, X., Du, J. D., Liu, H. R., Zhao, L. & Li, W. M. (2012). Association between TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma risk: a meta-analysis. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 13, 43054309.Google Scholar
Yang, J., Xu, D. L., Lu., Q., Han, Z. J., Tao, J., Lu, P., Wang, C., Di, X. K. & Gu, M. (2012). Prostate cancer risk and aggressiveness associated with the CYP1B1 4326C/G (Leu432Val) polymorphism: a meta-analysis of 2788 cases and 2968 controls. Asian Journal of Andrology 14, 560565.Google Scholar
Yoneda, T., Kuboyama, A., Kato, K., Ohgami, T., Okamoto, K., Saito, T. & Wake, N. (2013). Association of MDM2 SNP309 and TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphisms with risk ofendometrial cancer. Oncology Reports 30, 2534.Google Scholar
Yoon, Y. J., Chang, H. Y., Ahn, S. H., Kim, J. K., Park, Y. K., Kang, D. R., Park, J. Y., Myoung, S. M., Kim do, Y., Chon, C. Y. & Han, K. H. (2008). MDM2 and p53 polymorphisms are associated with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Carcinogenesis 29, 11921196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yu, H., Huang, Y. J., Liu, Z., Wang, L. E., Li, G., Sturgis, E. M., Johnson, D. G. & Wei, Q. (2011). Effects of MDM2 promoter polymorphisms and p53 codon 72 polymorphism on risk and age at onset of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Molecular Carcinogenesis 50, 697706.Google Scholar
Zhang, F., Li, D., Li, Y., Li, H., Sun, J., Li, X. & Li, X. (2014). Quantitative assessment of the association between TP53Arg72Pro polymorphism and risk of glioma. Tumour Biology 35, 747751.Google Scholar
Zhang, H., Li, L. & Xu, Y. (2013). CYP1B1 polymorphisms and susceptibility to prostate cancer: a meta-analysis. PLoS ONE 8, e68634.Google Scholar
Zhang, L., Shao, N., Yu, Q., Hua, L., Mi, Y. & Feng, N. (2011). Association between p53 Pro72Arg polymorphism and prostate cancer risk: a meta-analysis. Journal of Biomedical Research 25, 2532.Google Scholar
Zhou, Y., Li, N., Zhuang, W., Liu, G. J., Wu, T. X., Yao, X., Du, L., Wei, M. L. & Wu, X. T. (2007). P53 codon 72 polymorphism and gastric cancer: a meta-analysis of the literature. International Journal of Cancer 121, 14811486.Google Scholar
Zhu, W., Lu, L., Li, Y., Yao, J. & Xu, B. (2014). The effects of p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism on glioma susceptibility: a meta-analysis. Tumour Biology 35, 37253730.Google Scholar
Zhu, Z. Z., Wang, A. Z., Jia, H. R., Jin, X. X., He, X. L., Hou, L. F. & Zhu, G. (2007). Association of the TP53 codon 72 polymorphism with colorectal cancer in a Chinese population. Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology 37, 385–90.Google Scholar
Zubor, P., Stanclova, A., Kajo, K., Hatok, J., Klobusiakova, D., Visnovsky, J. & Danko, J. (2009). The p53 codon 72 exon 4 BstUI polymorphism and endometrial cancer in Caucasian women. Oncology 76, 173183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Figure 0

Fig. 1. A general flow diagram of study identification according to MOOSE and PRISMA statement.

Figure 1

Table 1. Characteristics of case-control studies included in the meta-analysis.

Figure 2

Table 2. Pooled analysis of association of P72R (rs1042522) polymorphism and cancer risk.