ERCC2 Lys751Gln polymorphism is associated with lung cancer among Caucasians

To derive a more precise estimation of the relationship between the excision repair cross-complementing rodent repair deficiency, group 2 (ERCC2) Lys751Gln polymorphism and lung cancer risk, a meta-analysis was performed. A total of 23 studies including 8137 cases and 9824 controls were involved in this meta-analysis. Overall, significantly elevated lung cancer risk was associated with ERCC2 Gln allele when all studies were pooled into the meta-analysis (Lys/Gln versus Lys/Lys: odds ratio (OR)=1.10, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.03-1.19; Gln/Gln versus Lys/Lys: OR=1.20, 95% CI=1.06-1.35; dominant model: OR=1.13, 95% CI=1.05-1.20; and recessive model: OR=1.15, 95% CI=1.03-1.29). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, significantly increased risk was only found for Caucasians (Gln/Gln versus Lys/Lys: OR=1.25, 95% CI=1.08-1.45; dominant model: OR=1.10, 95% CI=1.00-1.22; and recessive model: OR=1.22, 95% CI=1.06-1.40). When stratified by study design, statistically significantly elevated risks were found in hospital-based studies (Lys/Gln versus Lys/Lys: OR=1.12, 95% CI=1.03-1.22; Gln/Gln versus Lys/Lys: OR=1.24, 95% CI=1.06-1.44; dominant model: OR=1.15, 95% CI=1.06-1.24; and recessive model: OR=1.19, 95% CI=1.03-1.37) and population-based studies (Gln/Gln versus Lys/Lys: OR=1.57, 95% CI=1.12-2.20 and recessive model: OR=1.50, 95% CI=1.08-2.07). In the subgroup analysis whether or not the studies were matched on smoking, significantly increased risk was found not in those matched studies but in the unmatched studies (Lys/Gln versus Lys/Lys: OR=1.11, 95% CI=1.03-1.19; Gln/Gln versus Lys/Lys: OR=1.22, 95% CI=1.07-1.40; dominant model: OR=1.13, 95% CI=1.05-1.22; and recessive model: OR=1.18, 95% CI=1.04-1.33). In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests that the ERCC2 Lys751Gln polymorphism may contribute to lung cancer susceptibility among Caucasians.