Meta-analysis: glutathione S-transferase T1 null allele is associated with gastric cancer risk.

Allelic variant within genes encoding glutathione S-transferase T1 (GSTT1) has been suggested to be a possible risk factor of gastric cancer, but previous studies provide controversial results. This study aimed to assess the effects of GSTT1 polymorphism on gastric cancer by means of meta-analysis. We included published studies on the relationship between GSTT1 null allele and gastric cancer risk after searching electronic databases. A meta-analysis was conducted by calculating the pooled odds ratios (OR) and the 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Forty-two studies with a total of 8,203 gastric cancer cases and 13,866 controls were included into this meta-analysis. When all 42 studies were pooled into this meta-analysis, there was a significant association between the GSTT1 null allele and gastric cancer risk (OR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.14-1.36, P < 0.00001). Sensitivity analysis by excluding individual studies showed that there was no effect on the pooled OR with 95% CI. After excluding studies with low quality, there was still a significant association between the GSTT1 null allele and gastric cancer risk (OR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.13-1.36, P < 0.00001). In the subgroup analysis, there was a significant association between the GSTT1 null allele and gastric cancer risk in both Europeans and Asians. There was no risk of publication bias in this meta-analysis. Our results suggest that GSTT1 null allele is associated with increased risk of gastric cancer.