Objectives: This work aims to explore whether HOX transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) polymorphisms are associated with cancer susceptibility.
Materials and methods: A comprehensive search was conducted for literature published from January 2007 to July 2017. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% CIs were calculated using the Revman 5.2 software. Eighteen articles of 36 case–control studies were enrolled including six HOTAIR polymorphisms and 10 cancer types.
Results: The results showed that cancer risk was elevated in recessive mutation of rs12826786 (TT vs CC+CT: OR =1.55, 95% CI =1.19, 2.03; TT+CT vs CC: OR =1.23, 95% CI =1.04, 1.46; TT vs CC: OR =1.67, 95% CI =1.24, 2.24; T vs C: OR =1.24, 95% CI =1.09, 1.40) and rs920778 (TT vs CC+CT: OR =1.73, 95% CI =1.30, 2.30; TT+CT vs CC: OR =1.40, 95% CI =1.16, 1.70; TT vs CC: OR =1.83, 95% CI =1.25, 2.68; T vs C: OR =1.37, 95% CI =1.18, 1.59), while the results for polymorphisms of rs7958904, rs4759314, rs874945, and rs1899663 were insignificant. The stratified results for Chinese population were consistent with the overall group analysis.
Conclusion: Our meta-analysis showed that HOTAIR polymorphisms of rs12826786 and rs920778 were correlated with increased cancer risk, while rs7958904, rs4759314, rs874945, and rs1899663 were not. More studies with different types of cancer are needed to confirm the findings.
Keywords: HOTAIR, polymorphism, cancer, susceptibility, meta-analysis