Associations between vascular endothelial growth factor polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk: a meta-analysis

Angiogenesis is crucial for the development and metastasis of common cancers, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key mediator in the process of angiogenesis. Numerous studies assessed the associations of VEGF 1154G/A and 2578C/A polymorphisms with prostate cancer risk, but the results were inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis to investigate the possible associations. Relevant studies were searched in PubMed and Embase databases. The pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) was calculated to evaluate the associations. Finally, eight individual case-control studies from seven publications were finally included into the meta-analysis. There were a total of 3,879 cases and 4,285 controls from those eight studies. Meta-analysis of those four case-control studies for VEGF 1154G/A polymorphism showed that VEGF 1154G/A polymorphism was weakly associated with risk of prostate cancer under the allele model (A versus G: OR = 0.68, 95 % CI 0.46-1.00, P = 0.05). Meta-analysis of four case-control studies for VEGF 2578C/A polymorphism showed that there was an association between VEGF 2578C/A polymorphism and prostate cancer under the recessive model (AA versus CC/CA: OR = 1.53, 95 % CI 1.01-2.30, P = 0.04). However, there was no obvious association in the other comparison models. Therefore, there is limited evidence for the associations of VEGF 1154G/A and 2578C/A polymorphisms with prostate cancer risk, and more studies are needed to further assess the associations above.