Genetic polymorphisms of CASR and cancer risk: evidence from meta-analysis and HuGE review

BACKGROUND CASR gene appears to be involved in cancer biology and physiology. However, a number of studies investigating CASR polymorphisms and cancer risks have presented inconclusive results. Thus, a systematic review and a meta-analysis of the effect of CASR polymorphisms on several cancer risks were performed to suggest a statistical evidence for the association of CASR polymorphisms with cancer risks. METHODS MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, and the HuGE databases were searched. Nineteen articles of case-control and cohort studies were included for the final analysis. RESULTS The colorectal cancer risk was reduced in proximal (odds ratio [OR] =0.679, P=0.001) and distal (OR =0.753, P=0.026) colon sites with GG genotype of CASR rs1042636 and increased in distal colon site (OR =1.418, P=0.039) with GG genotype of rs1801726 by additive genetic model. The rs17251221 demonstrated noticeable associations that carrying a homozygote variant increases breast and prostate cancer risk considerably. CONCLUSION The significant association of CASR polymorphisms with several cancer risks was observed in this review. In particular, the act of CASR polymorphisms as a tumor suppressor or an oncogene differs by cancer site and can be the research target for tumorigenesis.