Association between TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and leukemia risk: a meta-analysis of 14 case-control studies

The relationship between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism (rs1042522) and the risk of leukemia remains controversial. Consequently, we performed a meta-analysis to accurately evaluate the association between TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and leukemia risk. A comprehensive search was conducted to find all eligible studies of TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and leukemia risk. Fourteen case-control studies, with 2,506 cases and 4,386 controls, were selected for analysis. The overall data failed to indicate a significant association between TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and the risk of leukemia (C vs. G: OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 0.93–1.26; CC vs. GC + GG: OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 0.96–1.57). In a subgroup analysis of clinical types, an increased risk was observed in the acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) subgroup (CC vs. GC + GG: OR = 1.73; 95% CI = 1.07–2.81) but not in the acute myeloid leukemia (AML) subgroup. In the subgroup analysis, no significant associations with ethnicity and the source of the controls were observed. In conclusion, the results suggest that there is no association between TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and the risk of leukemia, but the CC genotype may increase the risk of ALL TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism CC genotype may increase the risk of ALL but is not associated with AML. Further large-scale, well-designed studies are needed to confirm our results.