Association between ERCC2 rs13181 polymorphism and ovarian cancer risk: an updated meta-analysis with 4024 subjects

Genetic variants in the excision repair cross-complimentary group 2 (ERCC2) gene may affect individual susceptibility to cancer by modulating the capability of DNA damage repair. However, the current studies concerning the association of ERCC2 rs13181 polymorphism with ovarian cancer risk provided inconsistent evidence. This study was to quantitatively summarize the evidence from the individual studies electronically retrieved by a meta-analysis. Totally, nine eligible case-control studies with 1333 cases and 2691 controls were included for the concerned association. Overall, a significant association between ERCC2 gene rs13181 polymorphism and increased risk of ovarian cancer was revealed (CC+AC vs. AA: OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.11-1.86; CC vs. AA: OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.14-3.97). Similarly, in the subgroup analyses, such association was also evident in non-Caucasian population and hospital-based studies. Noteworthily, the recombined analysis with a significant decrease in between-heterogeneity represented a significant association of the variant with increased risk of ovarian cancer after excluding the individual study not in agreement with HWE. The present study suggests that the ERCC2 gene rs13181 polymorphism might be associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer.