Association between serum iron levels and the risk of cervical cancer in Chinese: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between serum iron levels and cervical cancer risk in Chinese populations. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using the PubMed, WanFang, and SinoMed databases up to April 30, 2019. Pooled standard mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were analyzed using R software with a random-effects model. RESULTS: Data from nine studies comprising 454 cervical cancer patients and 880 controls were used in the analysis. Our results demonstrated that serum iron levels in cervical cancer patients were significantly lower than those in controls in Chinese populations (summary SMD = −1.24, 95%CI = −1.37 to −1.10; I(2) = 93.4%). No publications bias was detected. Sensitivity analysis indicated that no single study had a significant effect on the overall SMD. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that serum iron levels are lower in patients with cervical cancer than in control individuals. However, further high-quality studies are necessary to clarify the role of serum iron levels in cervical cancer risk.