Background:

FAS cell surface death receptor (FAS) gene has 2 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in its promoter, FAS-1377G> A (rs2234767) and FAS-670A> G (rs1800682). Several studies have investigated the role of these 2 polymorphisms in etiology of breast cancer in Asian population while the outcomes are inconsistent. To derive a more precise assessment of the association between breast cancer susceptibility with FAS gene promoter SNPs, a meta-analysis of published studies was performed.

Material and methods:

We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Chinese biomedical database (CBM) for papers published until November 1, 2018. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidential interval (95% CI) was conducted to evaluate the associations. Statistical analysis was conducted using Stata13. 0 software. A total of 8 studies covering 2564 cases and 2633 controls were included.

Results:

The integrated results suggest the following: For the FAS-1377G/A polymorphism, we only found significant associations for allele G vs allele A (OR= 1.100, 95% CI= 1.004–1.206, P=. 040). After stratification by ethnicity, a significant association was observed only for the AA+ GA vs GG genotype in East Asian populations (OR= 1.177, 95% CI= 1.010–1.371, P=. 037). The association was not found in West Asian populations. For the FAS-670A/G polymorphism, no association with cancer risk was found in any comparison model. Sensitivity analysis suggests that the meta-analysis results obtained after excluding any single study were similar to the original ones, suggesting that the meta-analysis results were not significantly affected by any single study.

Conclusion:

These results indicated that FAS-1377G/A polymorphism may contribute to the increased breast cancer susceptibility and could be a promising target for cancer risk prediction. Further studies are needed to determine if the FAS gene confers a risk of breast cancer in other ethnic groups, such as Africans and Latin Americans.