239 IL-1beta gene polymorphism is associated with cervical cancer: an updated meta-analysis

Introduction/Background Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1B) participates in many cellular processes, including inflammation, cell differentiation and proliferation. The IL-1B -511 A/G (rs 16944) gene polymorphism of the promoter region has been studied in cancer. Many studies have investigated the association between the IL-1B polymorphism and cervical cancer susceptibility. However, the results were controversial. Here, we pooled cases/controls in a meta-analysis to investigate the association of rs16944 with cervical risk (CC). Methodology We searched published studies in Pubmed and Scopus databases. We meta-analyzed 7 studies (1415 cases and 1573 controls; 5 studies of Asian ethnicity; 3 studies performed with the same PCR-RFLP technique) to study the association between IL-1B gene polymorphism with CC in fixed and randomized models. Results The overall results of the present meta-analysis demonstrated that there is no significant association between IL1-B polymorphism and CC susceptibility. However ethnicity-stratified meta-analysis showed a significant association between the IL-1B -511 A/G polymorphism and CC in Asians according to homozygous GG+AA vs. GA (OR = 0.849, 95% CI = 0.726–0.992, p = 0.039) fixed-model. After stratification by technique used, we revealed an association of IL-1B with CC under allelic G vs. A (OR = 0.787, 95% CI = 0.687–0.902, p = 0.001), recessive GG vs. GA+AA (OR = 0.581, 95% CI = 0.452–0.749, p = 0.000), codominant GG vs. AA (OR = 0.574, 95% CI = 0.423–0.781, p = 0.000), and codominant GG vs. GA (OR = 0.593, 95% CI =0.455–0.772, p = 0.000) fixed-models. Our results reveal that the minor G allele and the GG genotype may protect against CC. Heterogeneity was low to moderate. Egger and Begg's p-values were generally not significant (two-tailed p-value > 0.05), indicating no sample size effect. There was no evidence of publication bias. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that the IL-1B -511 A/G gene polymorphism is associated with CC. Disclosures The authors certify that there is no conflict of interest to declare.