Relationship between single-nucleotide polymorphism of matrix metalloproteinase-2 gene and colorectal cancer and gastric cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis

Background: Recently, the published data on the association between matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) (C-1306T) polymorphism and colorectal cancer (CRC) and gastric cancer (GC) (gastrointestinal cancer) risk remained controversial. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the risk of CRC and GC and single-nucleotide polymorphism of MMP-2(C-1306T). Methods: Medline, Embase, Science Citation Index, and PubMed were thoroughly searched to identify relevant studies. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess the strength of the association. Results: We performed a meta-analysis of 14 studies including 642 cases and 692 controls for CRC and 1,936 cases and 3,490 controls for GC. The result indicates that there is significant relationship between MMP-2(C-1306T) polymorphism and CRC risk in recessive model and codominant model (TT vs CC/CT: OR: 2.39, 95% CI: 1.30-4.37, P=0.005; TT vs CC: OR: 2.36, 95% CI: 1.29-4.34, P=0.006). In subgroup analysis according to ethnicity, significant associations were found in Caucasians (TT vs CC/CT: OR: 2.87, 95% CI: 1.43-5.78, P=0.003; TT vs CC: OR: 2.86, 95% CI: 1.41-5.80, P=0.003), but we did not find significant evidence with GC in all genetic models, and in stratified analysis according to ethnicity, no significant risk was found in the subgroup too. Conclusion: This meta-analysis considered that the MMP-2(C-1306T) polymorphism is a risk factor for CRC susceptibility, especially in Caucasians, but it does not support any relationship to GC, and further studies are needed to explore the association.