Genetic polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferase T1 (GSTT1) and susceptibility to gastric cancer: a meta-analysis.

The association between glutathione S-transferase T1 (GSTT1) polymorphism and gastric cancer risk has been both confirmed and refuted in a number of published studies. Most of these studies were based on small sample sizes. We carried out a meta-analysis of the research published up to August 2005 to obtain more precise estimates of gastric cancer risk associated with GSTT1 polymorphism. In the present study, 16 case-control studies (with a total of 6717 subjects) were eligible for meta-analysis. There was no evidence of heterogeneity between the studies. The GSTT1 null genotype conferred a 1.06-fold increased risk of gastric cancer, which was not significant (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.94-1.19). However, in the analysis of ethnic groups, we observed distinct differences associated with GSTT1 status. Restricting analyses to ethnic groups, the pooled odd ratios for the GSTT1 genotype were 1.27 in Caucasians (95% CI: 1.03-1.57) and 0.98 in Asians (95% CI: 0.86-1.13). Glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) and GSTT1 are involved in detoxification of a variety of compounds, some that overlap between enzymes and some that are highly specific. To investigate whether the profile of glutathione S-transferase genotypes was associated with risk of gastric cancer, further analyses combining the GSTT1 and GSTM1 genotypes were also carried out. There was a significant trend in risk associated with zero, one and two putative high-risk genotypes (chi2 = 9.326, d.f. = 1, P = 0.0023). Those who had null genotypes of GSTM1 and GSTT1 had an increased gastric cancer risk compared with those who had both active genes (odds ratio = 2.08, 95% CI: 1.42-3.10).