Abstract
p53 is a tumor suppressor gene, which is activated in response to several forms of cellular stress and exerts multiple antiproliferative functions, making it the most frequent target for genetic alteration in cancer. Various studies have evaluated the association between p53 codon 72 G > C (rs1042522) polymorphism and risk of cancer. However, results from the published studies remained inconclusive. The aim of this study is to investigate the precise association between this variant and a risk of cancer in a large-scale meta-analysis. We searched the PubMed (MEDLINE) and Google Scholar web databases for studies regarding the association of p53 codon 72 G > C polymorphism and risk of cancer in the Indian population. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence interval (CI) were calculated by using random effect model to assess the association. Twenty studies with 3,258 cancer cases and 4,260 healthy controls were included. Overall, no significant association was detected for C allele carrier (C vs. G: OR = 1.135, 95 % CI = 0.930 to 1.386, p = 0.211) and homozygous (CC vs. GG: OR = 1.200, 95 % CI = 0.810 to 1.779, p = 0.364), heterozygous (CG vs. GG: OR = 1.204, 95 % CI = 0.921 to 1.575, p = 0.175), dominant (CC + CG vs. GG: OR = 1.231, 95 % CI = 0.932 to 1.625, p = 0.144), and recessive (CC vs. GG + GC: OR = 1.078, 95 % CI = 0.792 to 1.468, p = 0.632) genetic models, respectively. No significant publication bias was observed by using Begg's funnel plot and Egger's test. Present meta-analysis indicated that the p53 codon 72 G > C polymorphism was not associated with cancer risk. This suggests that this polymorphism may not be an independent risk factor for cancer in the Indian population.