Meta-analysis of TP73 polymorphism and cervical cancer

The aim of this study was to investigate the tumor protein p73 (TP73) G4C14-A4T14 polymorphism and to perform a meta-analysis to assess TP73 expression in cervical cancer and precancerous tissue. Articles containing data regarding TP73 status in cervical cancer patients and healthy controls were retrieved from PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Chinese Biomedical Literature, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. Then, the quality of the studies was evaluated according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Odds ratios between the case and control groups were used as an effect evaluation index and the RevMan 5.0 software was employed to carry out the meta-analysis. Three independent investigations including 8452 cases of cervical cancer and 8326 healthy controls were included in our study following the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria. PCR genotyping revealed that the TP73 GC/GC genotype produced a 193-bp product, while the AT/AT genotype produced a 270-bp fragment, and GC/AT genotype samples produced two fragments of 193 and 270 bp. Meta-analysis showed that TP73 expression in cervical cancer was significantly higher than that in normal cervical squamous epithelium (P < 0.05). This elevated expression may play an important role in the occurrence and development of cervical cancer. Therefore, TP73 testing might be useful in the screening and diagnosis of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions.