Genetic Polymorphisms in Matrix Metalloproteinases -1 and -7 and Susceptibility to Gastric Cancer: an Association Study and Meta-Analysis

Matrix metalloproteinases (mmps) play an important role in gastric cancer (gc). accumulated evidence suggests that functional mmp-1 and mmp-7 gene polymorphisms are associated with several tumors. the aim of this study was to investigate two single nucleotide polymorphisms, mmp-1 -1607 1g/2g and mmp-7 -181 a/g, and their potential relationship with gc. we examined 246 gc patients and 252 age-and sex-matched controls from sichuan province in china. genotypes were determined using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism strategy and dna sequencing. we also performed a metaanalysis of relevant studies, involving 1084 cases and 1721 controls, to place our findings in a broader context. no significant relationship was observed between the mmp-1 -1607 1g/2g alleles and genotypes and the risk of gc. there were significant differences in the genotypes and allele distributions of the -181 a/g polymorphism of the mmp-7 gene between cases and controls. the -181 a allele carriers had a significantly increased risk of gc compared with - 181 g allele carriers (or=3.051, 95% ci, 1.475-6.310, p=0.002), and the aa genotype of - 181 a/g was associated with an increased risk of gc compared with the ag genotype (or=3.189, 95% ci, 1.523-6.676, p=0.001). a meta-analysis of six studies also showed a significant risk of gc associated with mmp- 7 polymorphism.