A Comprehensive Study of the Association between LEPR Gene rs1137101 Variant and Risk of Digestive System Cancers.

The leptin receptor, encoded by the LEPR gene, is involved in tumorigenesis. A potential functional variant of LEPR , rs1137101 (Gln223Arg), has been extensively investigated for its contribution to the risk of digestive system (DS) cancers, but results remain conflicting rather than conclusive. Here, we performed a case–control study and subsequent meta-analysis to examine the association between rs1137101 and DS cancer risk. A total of 1,727 patients with cancer (gastric/liver/colorectal: 460/480/787) and 800 healthy controls were recruited. Genotyping of rs1137101 was conducted using a polymerase chain reactionrestriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay and confirmed using Sanger sequencing. Twenty-four eligible studies were included in the meta-analysis. After Bonferroni correction, the case–control study revealed that rs1137101 was significantly associated with the risk of liver cancer in the Hubei Chinese population. The meta-analysis suggested that rs1137101 is significantly associated with the risk of overall DS, gastric, and liver cancer in the Chinese population. The LEPR rs1137101 variant may be a genetic biomarker for susceptibility to DS cancers (especially liver and gastric cancer) in the Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]