EGF and hepatocellular carcinoma: In the subgroup analyses based upon ethnicity, a significantly elevated association between EGF +61A/G polymorphism and HCC risk was observed in Asian populations (G vs. A: OR = 1.151, P = 0.001, 95% CI: 1.056-1.255, I2 = 4.6%, Pheterogeneity = 0.397), European populations (G vs. A: OR = 1.594, P = 0.027, 95% CI: 1.053-2.413, I2 = 0.0%, Pheterogeneity = 0.582), and African populations (G vs. A: OR = 3.599, P < 0.001, 95% CI: 2.550-5.080, I2 = 57.6%, Pheterogeneity = 0.125), respectively (Figure 2).