Background. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the sixth common cancer in the world. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in microRNA genes may be associated with susceptibility to HCC. Recently, several studies have reported possible associations of SNPs miR-499 T>C rs3746444 and miR-34b/c T>C rs4938723 with the risk of HCC. However the results are inconsistent and inconclusive. In this present study, we conducted a meta-analysis to comprehensively evaluate potential associations between the two SNPs and HCC susceptibility. Methods. Through a systematic literature search, 8-case-control studies involving 5464 subjects were identified and included in this meta-analysis. The association between the two common SNPs and HCC risk was estimated by pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Our results showed no significant association between rs3746444 and susceptibility to HCC, whereas variant genotypes of rs4938723 were associated with increased HCC risk in allele frequency model and heterozygous model (C versus T, , 95% CI: 1.01–1.23, ; TC versus TT, , 95% CI: 1.03–1.37, ). Conclusions. The current evidence did not support association between rs3746444 and HCC risk. SNP rs4938723 may be associated with susceptibility to HCC. Further well-designed studies are required to clarify the relationships between the two SNPs and HCC risk. 1. Introduction Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the most common primary malignancy of the liver. According to epidemiological survey, the prevalence of HCC ranks the sixth among all cancers. Although the diagnosis and treatment of HCC have significantly been improved in recent years, the prognosis remains poor. HCC accounts for approximately 700,000 cancer-related deaths per year, which ranks the third in global cancer statistics [1, 2]. The mechanism of hepatic carcinogenesis remains elusive. Chronic infection of hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses (HBV and HCV) and subsequent liver injury-regeneration cycle are considered a major etiology of HCC [3]. However, only a small fraction of chronic viral hepatitis patients finally develop HCC while a considerable portion of HCC cases arise from livers without chronic hepatitis. This fact indicates that the carcinogenesis of HCC is a complex process with multiple factors involved [2, 4]. Recent studies indicate that genetic factors may play important roles in the development of HCC [4]. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of endogenous small noncoding RNA molecules with length of around 22 nucleotides. It is now clear that miRNAs function as
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