Association between MDM2 SNP309 and endometrial cancer risk: A PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis

Murine double minute 2 homolog (MDM2) plays an important role in the downregulation of P53 tumor suppressor gene. MDM2 inhibits P53 transcriptional activity and thereby results in accelerated tumor formation. Overexpression of MDM2 has been found in several cancer types including endometrial cancer. SNP309 is located in the promoter region of MDM2 and contributes to the overexpression of MDM2. The association between MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism and endometrial cancer risk has been investigated in several studies; however, the conclusion remains controversial.

We performed the present meta-analysis to give a comprehensive conclusion of the association between MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism and endometrial cancer susceptibility.

We conducted a literature research on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, OVID, Web of Science, Wan Fang, CNKI, and CQVIP databases up to July 31, 2018. Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess the quality of studies. We evaluated the strength of association by combining odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in 5 different genetic models under a fixed-effect model or random-effect model. We further conducted subgroup analysis by ethnicity, source of control, histological type, clinical type, grade, and stage of tumor. Sensitivity analysis and publication bias were also performed.

Nine eligible studies were finally included in our meta-analysis. We found MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism increased the risk of endometrial cancer under allele model (OR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.06-1.41, P = .005), homozygote model (OR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.13-1.81, P = .003) and recessive model (OR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.17-2.04, P = .002). Subgroup analysis suggested a similar elevated risk in both Asians and Caucasians. We identified a strong association of enhanced susceptibility to endometrial cancer in endometrioid group (OR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.28-3.54, P = .004) and Type I group (OR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.25-2.86, P = .002) under dominant model. We identified no significant publication bias according to Egger's test.

Our meta-analysis suggested that MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism increased the risk of endometrial cancer significantly, especially in endometrioid and Type I endometrial cancer, indicating MDM2 could serve as a potential diagnostic factor marker for endometrial cancer.