The HLA-DQB1 gene polymorphisms associated with cervical cancer risk: A meta-analysis

Human leukocyte antigens (HLA) alleles may affect the development of cervical cancer through immunologic control of human papillomavirus (HPV). The association between HLA-DQB1 alleles and risk of cervical cancer has been extensively studied, but the results obtained remain inconsistent. To explore a more extensive role of HLA-DQB1 alleles on cervical cancer risk, we carried out a meta-analysis including 4862 cases and 8988 controls from 22 published studies. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the association. The overall results suggested that HLA-DQB1*02 (OR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.82–0.99), *03 (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.74–0.97) and *0603 (OR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.53–0.72) had a significantly association with decreased cervical cancer risk. In contrast, DQB1*05 (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.01–1.38), *0301 (OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.06–1.23) and *0402 (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.04–1.64) conferred a significantly higher risk to cervical cancer. Moreover, a significantly association with increased or decreased cervical cancer risk was found among Europeans and Asians after stratification of the HLA-DQB1 alleles by ethnicity. These findings supported that the HLA-DQB1 alleles may contribute to genetic susceptibility of cervical cancer. Further studies with a greater number of cases are expected to confirm our results.