BACKGROUND: As a pleiotropic cytokine, interleukin-10 (IL-10) plays a regulatory role in carcinogenesis and tumor growth. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the susceptibility of the IL-10 gene C-819T polymorphism to gastric cancer.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Study identification and data extraction were independently completed by 2 authors. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated and summarized.

RESULTS: In total, 11 articles including 1960 gastric cancer patients and 3705 controls were qualified. Overall analyses revealed a 13% reduced risk of gastric cancer conferred by the –819T allele relative to the –819C allele (OR=0.87; 95% CI: 0.77–0.97; P=0.016), without heterogeneity (I2=35.1%). In subgroup analyses, a significant difference was identified in East Asian populations (OR=0.85; 95% CI: 0.73–0.98; P=0.029, I2=43.6%), for gastric adenocarcinoma (OR=0.80; 95% CI: 0.66–0.96; P=0.017, I2=0.0%), and in population-based studies (OR=0.81; 95% CI: 0.70–0.93; P=0.003, I2=0.0%). The visual funnel plots and Egger’s tests suggested no evidence of publication bias.

CONCLUSIONS: Extending previous findings, we demonstrate a protective role of the IL-10 gene –819T allele in susceptibility to gastric cancer, and this role was more evident for gastric adenocarcinoma.

Keywords: Gene Frequency, Alleles, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Haplotypes, Interleukin-10 - metabolism, Odds Ratio, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors, Stomach Neoplasms - metabolism