The Potential Role of Rs12917 Polymorphism in Cancer Risk: an Updated Pooling Analysis with 21010 Cases and 34018 Controls

In the present study, we aimed at determining the potential role of rs12917 polymorphism of the -6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase () gene in the occurrence of cancer. Based on the available data from the online database, we performed an updated meta-analysis. We retrieved 537 articles from our database research and finally selected a total of 54 case-control studies (21010 cases and 34018 controls) for a series of pooling analyses. We observed an enhanced risk in cancer cases compared with controls, using the genetic models T/T compared with C/C (-value of association test <0.001; odds ratio (OR) = 1.29) and T/T compared with C/C+C/T (<0.001; OR = 1.32). We detected similar positive results in the subgroups 'Caucasian', and 'glioma' (all <0.05; OR > 1). However, we detected negative results in our analyses of most of the other subgroups (>0.05). Begg's and Egger's tests indicated that the results were free of potential publication bias, and sensitivity analysis suggested the stability of the pooling results. In summary, the T/T rs12917 is likely to be linked to an enhanced susceptibility to cancer overall, especially glioma, in the Caucasian population.