The E-cadherin (CDH1) −160C>A Polymorphism Associated with Gastric Cancer Among Asians But Not Europeans

E-cadherin (CDH1) is a tumor suppressor gene involved in epithelial cell–cell interactions and plays important roles in the etiology of gastric cancer. Studies reporting conflicting results on the role of −160C>A polymorphism in the CDH1 promoter region on gastric cancer risk led us to perform a meta-analysis to investigate this relationship. Thirteen published case–control studies including 2509 gastric cancer cases and 3687 controls were identified. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the association. Overall, individuals with the variant genotypes were not associated with a significant gastric cancer risk (AA vs. CC: OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.74–1.48; CA vs. CC: 1.02, 0.85–1.21; AA/CA vs. CC: 1.03, 0.86–1.22; AA vs. CA/CC: 1.03, 0.74–1.43). However, in the stratified analysis by ethnicity, significantly decreased gastric cancer risk was found among Asians in dominant model (AA/CA vs. CC: 0.84, 0.72–0.99). Further, when stratified by clinicopathologic char...