Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene polymorphisms and risk of head and neck cancer: a meta-analysis involving 2,444 individuals

The association between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene polymorphisms and risk of head and neck cancer (HNC) were investigated in many published studies; however, the currently available results are inconclusive. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis for deriving a more precise estimation of association between VEGF polymorphisms and the risk of HNC. Finally, we yield eight case–control studies involving six polymorphisms contain 2,444 individuals from PubMed, Embase, and CNKI up to January 30, 2013 (last updated on May 4, 2013). The results of meta-analysis showed that all the six polymorphisms of VEGF were not associated with risk of HNC [OR 1.25, 95 % CI (0.60–1.58) for TT vs. CC for 936 C/T; OR 1.41, 95 % CI (0.79–2.52) for GG vs. AA for −1,154 A/G; OR 0.97, 95 % CI (0.38–2.50) for CC vs. GG for 405 G/C; OR 1.44, 95 % CI (0.80–2.61) for AA vs. CC for 2,578 C/A; OR 1.27, 95 % CI (0.77–3.72) for TT vs. CC for −460 C/T; and OR 0.87, 95 % CI (0.37–2.06) for GG vs. CC for −634 G/C]. When performed subgroup analysis according to ethnicity for VEGF 936 C/T, the results suggested that it was not associated with the risk of HNC for either Asians [OR 0.84, 95 % CI (0.27–2.56) for TT vs. CC] or Caucasians [OR 2.10, 95 % CI (0.82–5.37) for TT vs. CC]. However, due to the limitations of this meta-analysis, more well designed, larger sample size, and adjusted risk factors studies are suggested to further assess the findings.