Associations of tumor necrosis factor-α polymorphisms with the risk of colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis.

Recently, the roles of tumor necrosis factor-α () polymorphisms in colorectal cancer (CRC) were analyzed by some pilot studies, with inconsistent results. Therefore, we performed the present study to better assess the relationship between polymorphisms and the risk of CRC. Eligible studies were searched in PubMed, Medline, Embase and CNKI. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess correlations between polymorphisms and CRC. A total of 22 studies were included for analyses. A significant association with the risk of CRC was detected for -308 G/A (recessive model: = 0.004, OR = 1.42, 95%CI 1.12-1.79) polymorphism in overall analyses. Further subgroup analyses based on ethnicity of participants revealed that -238 G/A was significantly correlated with the risk of CRC in Caucasians (dominant model: = 0.01, OR = 0.47, 95%CI 0.26-0.86; overdominant model: = 0.01, OR = 2.27, 95%CI 1.20-4.30; allele model: = 0.02, OR = 0.51, 95%CI 0.29-0.90), while -308 G/A polymorphism was significantly correlated with the risk of CRC in Asians (recessive model: = 0.001, OR = 2.23, 95%CI 1.38-3.63). Our findings indicated that -238 G/A polymorphism may serve as a potential biological marker for CRC in Caucasians, and -308 G/A polymorphism may serve as a potential biological marker for CRC in Asians.