ALDH2 and ADH1 Genetic Polymorphisms May Contribute to the Risk of Gastric Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

AIM: We conducted a meta-analysis of case-control studies to determine whether ALDH2, ADH1 and ADH2 genetic polymorphisms contribute to the pathogenesis of gastric cancer. METHODS: The PubMed, CISCOM, CINAHL, Web of Science, Google Scholar, EBSCO, Cochrane Library, and CBM databases were searched for relevant articles published before November 1st, 2013 without any language restrictions. Meta-analysis was conducted using the STATA 12.0 software. We calculated crude odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) to evaluate their relationships under five genetic models. Seven case-control studies with a total of 2,563 gastric cancer patients and 4,192 healthy controls met the inclusion criteria. Nine common polymorphisms were evaluated, including rs671, rs16941667 and rs886205 in the ALDH2 gene, rs1230025, rs13123099, rs698 and rs1693482 in the ADH1 gene, and rs1229984 and rs17033 in the ADH2 gene. RESULTS: The results of our meta-analysis suggested that ALDH2 genetic polymorphisms might be strongly correlated with an increased risk of gastric cancer (allele model: OR = 1.21, 95%CI: 1.11∼1.32, P<0.001; dominant model: OR = 1.23, 95%CI: 1.09∼1.39, P = 0.001; respectively), especially for rs671 polymorphism. Furthermore, we observed significant associations between ADH1 genetic polymorphisms and an increased risk of gastric cancer (allele model: OR = 1.21, 95%CI: 1.08∼1.36, P = 0.001; dominant model: OR = 10.52, 95%CI: 3.04∼36.41, P<0.001; respectively), especially for rs1230025 polymorphism. Nevertheless, no positive relationships were found between ADH2 genetic polymorphisms and gastric cancer risk (all P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The current meta-analysis suggests that ALDH2 and ADH1 genetic polymorphisms may play crucial roles in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer. However, ADH2 genetic polymorphisms may not be important dominants of susceptibility to gastric cancer.