Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is a critical
enzyme to detoxify the carcinogenic
catechol estrogen and the Val158Met polymorphism of COMT could influence its enzymatic activity. Recent epidemiological studies have investigated the correlation of COMT Val158Met polymorphism with
endometrial cancer risk; however, the results are inconsistent. To better evaluate the role of COMT Val158Met in endometrial
carcinogenesis, we performed this meta-analysis, considering menopausal status, study quality, ethnicity, and source of controls. Eight eligible studies including 5109 subjects were collected from PubMed, CNKI, and Chinese Biomedicine Database (updated until September 21, 2012). Although no obvious associations were detected between COMT Val158Met and
endometrial cancer susceptibility in the pooled analysis, we noted significantly decreased
endometrial cancer risk for Val/Met versus
Val/Val, and
Met/Met + Val/Met versus
Val/Val genetic models in the postmenopausal female (OR = 0.795, 95%CI = 0.656-0.962, P = 0.019; and OR = 0.819, 95%CI = 0.683-0.983, P = 0.032; respectively), and similar results existed in high-quality studies (OR = 0.835, 95%CI = 0.726-0.961, P = 0.012; and OR = 0.853, 95%CI = 0.747-0.974, P = 0.019; respectively). However, no evidence of association was noted in different ethnic groups and sources of controls. In conclusion, our results suggested that the COMT
Val/Val genotype might act as a potential
endometrial cancer risk factor in postmenopausal women. Further studies are needed to investigate the interactions between COMT Val158Met polymorphism and
endometrial cancer in a specific population.