MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis

The mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) gene encodes a phosphoprotein that interacts with P53 and negatively regulates its activity. SNP309 polymorphism (T-G) in the promoter of MDM2 gene has been reported to be associated with enhanced MDM2 expression and tumor development. Many published studies have evaluated the association between MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism and breast cancer risk. However, the results were inconsistent. We combined and analyzed the data from 19 case–control studies including 14,450 cases and 13,382 controls. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the association between MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism and breast cancer risk. No significant association was found in all genetic models in overall population. However, in subgroup analysis by ethnicity (4 studies in Asian group, 13 studies in European group, 2 studies of mixed population which were separated into 2 European population group and 2 African population group), we found an increased breast cancer susceptibility for GT versus TT (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.03–1.67) in Asian population and for GT versus TT (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.03–1.66) in African population. When stratified by family history status (5 studies in familial breast cancer group, 5 studies in sporadic breast cancer group), homozygous subjects of sporadic breast cases carrying the T309G G allele exhibited elevated breast cancer risk (OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.00–1.82), whereas heterozygous carriers did not show significant association with breast cancer risk for GT vs. TT (OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 0.84–1.87). Our meta–analysis suggests that MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism may increase the risk to breast cancer in Asian and African population.