Increased Risk of Cutaneous Melanoma Associated with p53 Arg72Pro Polymorphism

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism may contribute to an increased risk of cutaneous melanoma (CM). METHODS: By searching the databases of PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science, a total of 8 eligible case-control studies with 1,957 CM cases and 2,887 controls were included in this meta-analysis. Stata software was used to analyze all the statistical data. RESULTS: The pooled data by a fixed-effects model suggested an increased risk of CM associated with p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism under the genetic model of Arg/Pro vs. Pro/Pro without heterogeneity (OR(Arg/Pro vs. Pro/Pro) = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.55-1.99, P (heterogeneity) = 0.075). A similar trend was seen in subgroups of hospital-based studies and population-based studies. CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis based on all studies shows that the p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism may increase individual susceptibility to CM, particularly in Caucasians and could serve as a biomarker to predict the population at high risk of CM.