Lack of association between cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 gene polymorphisms and lymphoid malignancy risk: evidence from a meta-analysis

Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) polymorphisms have been associated with susceptibility to lymphoid malignancies. However, results from the published single studies are inconsistent. Therefore, the present meta-analysis was conducted to get a more accurate estimation of the relationship between CTLA-4 gene polymorphisms and the lymphoid malignancy risk. We identified nine independent studies accounting for 3090 subjects up to January 30, 2016. Summary odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were used to evaluate the risk of lymphoid malignancies. Overall, no significant association was found between +49A/G (rs231775), −318C/T (rs5742909), and +6230A/G (rs3087243) CTLA-4 gene polymorphisms and lymphoid malignancies. Furthermore, ethnicity (Asian and Caucasian) and histopathology subgroup analyses (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) also failed to detect an association between the studied polymorphisms and lymphoid malignancy risk. Our study shows that common CTLA-4 gene polymorphisms may not contribute to lymphoid malignancy susceptibility based on the current evidence.