New insights into the association between AXIN2 148 C/T, 1365 C/T, and rs4791171 A/G variants and cancer risk

BACKGROUND: Many epidemiological studies have investigated association of AXIN2 variants on overall cancer risks; however, the available results remain inconsistent. METHODS: An updated analysis was conducted to ascertain a more accurate estimation of the correlation between AXIN2 148 C/T, 1365 C/T, and rs4791171 A/G polymorphisms and cancer risk. We also used in silico tools to assess the effect of AXIN2 expression on cancer susceptibility and overall survival time. RESULTS: A total of 4281 cases and 3955 control participants were studied. The overall results indicated that AXIN2 148 C/T variant was associated with cancer risk (allelic contrast: OR = 0.88, 95% CI 0.77–0.99, P(heterogeneity) = 0.004; dominant model: OR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.69–0.96, P(heterogeneity) = 0.022), especially for lung and prostate adenocarcinoma. Similar results were observed in 1365 C/T polymorphism (OR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.61–0.98, P(heterogeneity) = 0.873; dominant model: OR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.47–0.94, P(heterogeneity) = 0.775). Moreover, in subgroup analysis by ethnicity, similar findings were obtained for Asian and Caucasian populations. Results from in silico tools suggested that AXIN2 expressions in lung adenocarcinoma were lower than that in normal group. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicated that AXIN2 148 C/T and 1365 C/T variants may be associated with decreased cancer susceptibility.