rs11614913 polymorphism in miRNA-196a2 and cancer risk: an updated meta-analysis

Several epidemiological studies have reported that polymorphisms in microRNA-196a2 (miR-196a2) were associated with various cancers. However, the results remained unverified and were inconsistent in different cancers. Therefore, we carried out an updated meta-analysis to elaborate the effects of rs11614913 polymorphism on cancer susceptibility. A total of 84 articles with 35,802 cases and 41,541 controls were included to evaluate the association between the miR-196a2 rs11614913 and cancer risk by pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The results showed that miR-196a2 rs11614913 polymorphism is associated with cancer susceptibility, especially in lung cancer (homozygote comparison, OR=0.840, 95% CI=0.734-0.961; recessive model, OR=0.858, 95% CI=0.771-0.955), hepatocellular carcinoma (allelic contrast, OR=0.894, 95% CI=0.800-0.998; homozygote comparison, OR=0.900, 95% CI=0.813-0.997; recessive model, OR=0.800, 95% CI=0.678-0.944), and head and neck cancer (allelic contrast, OR=1.076, 95% CI=1.006-1.152; homozygote comparison, OR=1.214, 95% CI=1.043-1.413). In addition, significant association was found among Asian populations (allele model, OR=0.847, 95% CI=0.899-0.997, P=0.038; homozygote model, OR=0.878, 95% CI=0.788-0.977, P=0.017; recessive model, OR=0.895, 95% CI=0.824-0.972, P=0.008) but not in Caucasians. The updated meta-analysis confirmed the previous results that miR-196a2 rs11614913 polymorphism may serve as a risk factor for patients with cancers.