Lack of association between MicroRNA-146a rs2910164 C > G polymorphism and risk of gastric carcinoma: a case-control study and a meta-analysis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) may be important molecular biomarkers and therapeutic targets of gastric carcinoma (GC). However, the relationship between the miRNA-146a rs2910164 C > G polymorphism and risk of GC was not clear. In the present study, we conducted a case-control study and then performed an updated meta-analysis to get a more precise evaluation. In total, 490 GC patients and 1,476 cancer-free subjects were enrolled. The SNPscan (TM) genotyping assay was used to genotype the miRNA-146a rs2910164 C > G polymorphism. We found there was no significant difference in genotype distribution of the miR-146a rs2910164 C > G polymorphism among GC patients and controls. After pooling all enrolled studies, we also found null association of the miR-146a rs2910164 C > G polymorphism with GC risk under all genetic models, even in different ethnicities. There was no publication bias for those genetic models. Results of heterogeneity analysis indicated that a large sample size study, Asian populations and low quality studies might contribute to the major source of heterogeneity. Sensitivity analysis suggested that our findings were stable. In conclusion, this case-control study in an eastern Chinese Han population, along with a meta-analysis, failed to identify a relationship between the miRNA-146a rs2910164 C > G polymorphismand GC risk, even across different ethnicities. Nevertheless, for practical reasons, more well-designed prospective studies with a larger sample size and detailed environmental risk factors are needed to confirm or refute these findings.