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Updated: Apr 19, 2026

Candidate Gene Testing in Clinical Cohort Studies with Multiplexed Genotyping and Mass Spectrometry
Published on: June 21, 2018
Association between interleukin-4 gene intron 3 VNTR polymorphism and cancer risk
Yin Duan1, Chi Pan1, Jinan Shi2
1Cancer Institute (Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Intervention, China National Ministry of Education), The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province PR China.
Background:
Interleukin-4(IL-4) is a critical inflammatory cytokine and has been involved in pathogenesis of cancer. To date, several studies have investigated the association between IL-4 intron 3 variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism and cancer risk in humans; however, the results remain controversial. We performed this meta-analysis to find a more conclusive association between this polymorphism and cancer risk.
Methods:
Eight eligible case-control studies were identified through searching electronic databases, including 1583 cases and 1638 controls. Odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to estimate the strength of the association.
Results:
The results of overall analyses indicated that the variant RP2 allele was associated with a decreased cancer risk compared with the RP1 allele (RP2/RP2 vs. RP1/RP1, OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.44-0.94; RP2/RP2 vs. RP1/RP1 + RP1/RP2, OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.60-0.92; RP2 vs. RP1, OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.56-0.92). In subgroup analyses stratified by ethnicity, there was evidence in the Asian population for an association between this polymorphism and cancer risk (RP2/RP2 vs. RP1/RP1 + RP1/RP2, OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.63-0.99; RP2 vs. RP1, OR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.61-0.97).
Conclusions:
IL-4 intron 3 VNTR polymorphism could influence the risk of human cancer. Due to the limitations of this meta-analysis, further well-designed and functional researches should be performed to validate our results.
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