Glutathione S-transferase M1 and T1 polymorphisms and cervical cancer risk: A meta-analysis

There were some studies on the associations between Glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) and Glutathione S-transferase T1 (GSTT1) polymorphisms and cervical cancer (CC) risk, but the results were inconsistent. Thus, a meta-analysis was performed. The electronic databases PubMed, Science Direct, CBM, and CNKI were searched for possible studies. Finally, 16 studies (1,627 cases and 2,161 controls) were included. For the GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms, the unadjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) from each study were used to estimate summary OR. Subgroup analyses by ethnicity and histological type of CC were also performed. For the GSTM1 polymorphism, the null genotype of GSTM1 was associated with an increased CC risk in total population (OR=1.32, 95% CI=1.06-1.66). Similar association was found in Asians (OR=1.47, 95% CI=1.11-1.94), but not in Caucasians (OR=0.96, 95% CI=0.73-1.27). For the GSTT1 polymorphism, the null genotype of GSTT1 was not statistically significantly associated with CC risk in total population (OR=1.36, 95% CI=0.97-1.90). This result was also found in Asians (OR=1.27, 95% CI=0.87-1.85) and Caucasians (OR=1.09, 95% CI= 0.66-1.79), but not in Latinos (OR=4.58, 95% CI= 2.04-10.28). For the GSTM1/GSTT1 interaction analysis, the dual null genotypes of GSTM1/GSTT1 were significantly associated with increased CC risk in total population (OR=1.77, 95% CI= 1.14-2.75), and all the six studies were from Asia. For subgroup analyses by histological type of CC, the three aspects of the analyses above were all not significantly associated with CC risk in squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, respectively. The null genotype of GSTM1 and the dual null genotypes of GSTM1/GSTT1 were risk factors in CC, and the null genotype of GSTT1 was not associated with CC risk.