The effects of p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism on glioma susceptibility: a meta-analysis

The potentially functional polymorphism Arg72Pro in p53 gene has been implicated in glioma risk, but published studies have mixed findings. The aim of current investigation was to identify whether p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism was significantly associated with the risk of glioma. By searching the databases of PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science, our meta-analysis included ten eligible studies consisting of 2,645 glioma cases and 3,920 control subjects. The association between p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and glioma risk was assessed by summarizing the odds ratios (ORs) with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We found that there was no overall risk of glioma in relation to any genetic model of p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism. Similar results were implicated in the analyses which are subgrouped by ethnicity and source of controls. This nonsignificant association remained stable when analyses were restrained to the studies consistent with HWE. In conclusion, our meta-analysis, based on the combined data from published papers before May 2013, reveals no evidence for significant association between p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and glioma risk.