This meta-analysis suggested that the lymphotoxin-α+252A/G gene polymorphism is a risk factor for NHL in North Americans, and this polymorphism may contribute to diffuse large B cell lymphoma susceptibility.
We observed that LTA rs1800683G>A was significantly associated with risk of progression or relapse in NHL patients (HR = 1.63, 95%CI = 1.06-2.51; P = 0.028), particularly in Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) cases (HR = 1.50, 95%CI = 1.10-2.04, P = 0.01).
These findings strengthen previous results for DLBCL and the LTA 252A>G/TNF -308A locus and provide robust evidence that these TNF/LTA gene variants, or others in linkage disequilibrium, are involved in NHL etiology.