Hepatobiliary Surgery Department, Guangxi Medical University, Tumor Hospital, Nanning, People's Republic of China.
PLoS One. 2012;7(3):e32159. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0032159. Epub 2012 Mar 5.
Hepatocarcinogenesis is a complex process that may be influenced by many factors, including polymorphism in the epidermal growth factor (EGF) gene. Previous work suggests an association between the EGF 61*A/G polymorphism (rs4444903) and susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the results have been inconsistent. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis of several studies covering a large population to address this controversy.
PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were systematically searched to identify relevant studies. Data were abstracted independently by two reviewers. A meta-analysis was performed to examine the association between EGF 61*A/G polymorphism and susceptibility to HCC. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated.
Eight studies were chosen in this meta-analysis, involving 1,304 HCC cases (1135 Chinese, 44 Caucasian and 125 mixed) and 2,613 controls (1638 Chinese, 77 Caucasian and 898 mixed). The EGF 61G allele was significantly associated with increased risk of HCC based on allelic contrast (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.16-1.44, p<0.001), homozygote comparison (OR = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.39-2.29, p<0.001) and a recessive genetic model (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.16-1.54, p<0.001), while patients carrying the EGF 61A/A genotype had significantly lower risk of HCC than those with the G/A or G/G genotype (A/A vs. G/A+G/G, OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.53-0.83, p<0.001).
The 61G polymorphism in EGF is a risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis while the EGF 61A allele is a protective factor. Further large and well-designed studies are needed to confirm this conclusion.
肝癌的发生是一个复杂的过程，可能受到多种因素的影响，包括表皮生长因子（EGF）基因的多态性。之前的研究表明，EGF 61*A/G 多态性（rs4444903）与肝细胞癌（HCC）易感性之间存在关联，但结果并不一致。因此，我们进行了一项荟萃分析，以解决这一争议。
系统地检索了 PubMed、EMBASE、Google Scholar 和中国国家知识基础设施数据库，以确定相关研究。由两位评审员独立提取数据。进行荟萃分析以检查 EGF 61*A/G 多态性与 HCC 易感性之间的关联。计算比值比（ORs）和 95%置信区间（95%CI）。
本荟萃分析纳入了 8 项研究，共涉及 1304 例 HCC 病例（1135 例中国人群、44 例白种人和 125 例混合人群）和 2613 例对照（1638 例中国人群、77 例白种人和 898 例混合人群）。基于等位基因对比（OR=1.29，95%CI=1.16-1.44，p<0.001）、纯合子比较（OR=1.79，95%CI=1.39-2.29，p<0.001）和隐性遗传模型（OR=1.34，95%CI=1.16-1.54，p<0.001），EGF 61G 等位基因与 HCC 的风险增加显著相关，而携带 EGF 61A/A 基因型的患者患 HCC 的风险显著低于携带 G/A 或 G/G 基因型的患者（A/A 与 G/A+G/G，OR=0.66，95%CI=0.53-0.83，p<0.001）。
EGF 61G 多态性是肝癌发生的危险因素，而 EGF 61A 等位基因是保护因素。需要进一步进行大型和精心设计的研究来证实这一结论。
