Association between 17q25.3-rs6465657 polymorphism and prostate cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis based on 19 studies

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies have identified rs6465657 polymorphism at chromosome 17q25.3 as a new prostate cancer (PCa) susceptibility locus in people of European descent. However, subsequent replication studies have yielded inconsistent results among different ethnicities. In this study, a comprehensive meta-analysis was conducted to systematically evaluate the relationship between rs6465657 polymorphism and PCa risk. METHODS: All the articles involved were identified from PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, EBSCO databases, and Google Scholar before December 2015. The odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence internals (95% CIs) were pooled under the allele model. Fourteen eligible articles with 19 studies were finally included. RESULTS: In the overall population, the 17q25.3-rs6465657C allele was found to be significantly associated with increased risk of PCa compared to the T allele (OR =1.097; 95% CI: 1.061–1.134; P<0.001). In the subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity, significantly increased risk was found in the Caucasian population (OR =1.120; 95% CI: 1.078–1.162; P<0.001), while the difference of OR did not reach the statistical significance in the Asian or African-American population. The analyses of sensitivity indicated the robust stability of the results, and the Begg’s and Egger’s test indicated that no publication bias existed. CONCLUSION: The current meta-analysis suggested that the 17q25.3-rs6465657 polymorphism could be associated with PCa susceptibility, especially in the Caucasians, while this association might be different in other ethnicities.