Three Polymorphisms of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (+936C > T, −460C > T, and −2578C > A) and Their Susceptibility to Ovarian Cancer

Objective

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent endothelial cell mitogen that plays a vital role in angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis. The associations between 3 polymorphisms of VEGF (+936C > T, −2578C > A, and −460C > T) and ovarian cancer (OC) risk have been extensively investigated, but the currently available results are inconsistent. To obtain a more accurate estimation of the association, a meta-analysis was conducted in this study.

Methods

PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched for all relevant studies published before November 30, 2014. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for the VEGF polymorphisms to assess the strength of the association.

Results

With regard to the +936C > T polymorphism, 5 articles were available for analysis (882 cases and 1155 controls), whereas for −2578C > A (559 cases and 632 controls) and −460C > T (350 cases and 409 controls), only 2 articles were eligible for analysis, respectively. A significant association between the VEGF +936C/T polymorphism and OC was demonstrated in white populations (CT vs CC: OR, 0.638 [95% CI, 0.437–0.932; P = 0.020]; TT + CT vs CC: OR, 0.694 [95% CI, 0.483-0.995; P = 0.047]). No relationship was found between −2578C > A and −460C > T and susceptibility to develop OC.

Conclusions

This meta-analysis provides supportive evidence that the VEGF +936C/T polymorphism may influence the risk for the development of OC in a protective model among whites.