p16 promoter hypermethylation is associated with increased risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of p16 hypermethylation on the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) quantitatively, through a meta-analysis of available case-control studies including malignant and normal NPC tissue samples. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were extracted and pooled to assess the strength of the association between p16 hypermethylation and NPC risk. A total of 9 studies, including 406 NPC and 376 control cases, were identified for meta-analysis. Statistically significant ORs of p16 hypermethylation were obtained from the NPC and control groups (OR=19.53; 95% CI: 9.54-39.97; P=0.685). The meta-analysis indicated that p16 hypermethylation significantly increases NPC risk.