Association of estrogen receptor α PvuII and XbaI polymorphisms with prostate cancer susceptibility and risk stratification: a meta-analysis from case-control studies

BACKGROUND: Studies on the association between two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in estrogen receptor α (ERα), PvuII (rs2234693 T>C) and XbaI (rs9340799 A>G), and the prostate cancer risk are inconsistent. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to derive a more accurate estimation of this relationship. METHODS: A literature search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science databases until October 1, 2016, was conducted. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the strength of this association. RESULTS: Eighteen case-control studies, with a total of 3,317 prostate cancer patients and 8,324 controls, were included. Results showed that both PvuII and XbaI polymorphisms were significantly associated with a higher prostate cancer risk in overall populations. To derive a more accurate estimation, subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity revealed that this relation-ship existed only in Caucasians, but not in Asians. Furthermore, PvuII polymorphism was significantly associated with high Gleason grade (Gleason score ≥7) cancers. CONCLUSION: The current meta-analysis demonstrates that ERα PvuII and XbaI polymorphisms are associated with a higher prostate cancer risk in Caucasians, but not in Asians, and PvuII polymorphism is significantly associated with high Gleason grade tumors, indicating the probability of inherited susceptibility to prostate cancer arising from different genomic ERα SNPs, which may help us understand the pathogenesis of prostate cancer in Caucasians.