ABSTRACT
Purpose: Epidemiological studies have assessed the association between Caveolin-1 polymorphism and cancer risk. However, published data are still inconclusive. To clarify this inconsistency, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between Caveolin-1 polymorphism (rs7804372) and cancer susceptibility. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive literature search, using PubMed, Embase, Medline, Web of Science, CNKI, and Wanfang database, which included English and Chinese literatures. The latest updated date was January 2018. The following search terms were performed to retrieve the relevant articles: ((CAV1) OR (Caveolin-1) OR (rs7804372)) AND (cancer OR tumor OR carcinoma OR neoplasms OR malignancy) AND (polymorphism OR mutation OR variant OR genotype). Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to estimate the pooled effect. Results: In the overall analysis, this kind of polymorphism showed a significant association with increased risk of cancer: allelic model (T/A; OR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.19 - 1.49; P < 0.0001), homozygous (TT/AA; OR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.37 - 2.18; P < 0.0001), and heterozygous genetic models (TT/TA; OR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.14 - 1.33; P < 0.0001), the dominant genetic model (TT + TA/AA; OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.28 - 1.96; P < 0.0001), and the recessive genetic model (TT/TA + AA; OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.20 - 1.50; P < 0.0001). In addition, the stratified analysis of the results was carried out by ethnicity, HWE status, and cancer types. The outcome indicated that Caveolin-1 rs7804372 polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of cancer. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that the allele T of Caveolin-1 (rs7804372) polymorphism might associate with increased susceptibility to cancer, and might predict worse survival in patients with various types of cancer. However, further well-designed studies are required to evaluate this association.