MicroRNA‐binding site polymorphisms and risk of colorectal cancer: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Genetic variations in miRNAs binding site might participate in cancer risk. This study aimed to systematically review the association between miRNA‐binding site polymorphisms and colorectal cancer (CRC). Electronic literature search was carried out on PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Scopus, and Embase. All types of observational studies till 30 November 2018 were included. Overall 85 studies (21 SNPs) from two systematic searches were included analysis. The results showed that in the Middle East population, the minor allele of rs731236 was associated with decreased risk of CRC (heterozygote model: 0.76 [0.61‐0.95]). The minor allele of rs3025039 was related to increased risk of CRC in East Asian population (allelic model: 1.25 [1.01‐1.54]). Results for rs3212986 were significant in overall and subgroup analysis (P
MicroRNA‐binding site polymorphisms in 3'UTR of target genes could play critical roles on cancer genes regulation by affecting miRNA:mRNA interactions, but no comprehensive study has been considered on association between cancers and the mentioned polymorphisms. In this study, the authors carried out two comprehensive systematic searches and a meta‐analysis on 21 included polymorphisms on colorectal cancer (CRC). The results have shown that these polymorphisms can serve as genetic biomarkers of CRC, and their roles were exclusively related to population stratifications. It is strongly recommended that further studies should be performed to display the effect of population stratifications.