This meta-analysis focused on the association between COX-2 rs20417 polymorphism and digestive system cancer, including three studies of HNSCC [28, 29, 31] and revealed negative association based on the performance of 2 genetic models (GG + GC vs. GG: OR = 0.66, 95 % CI = 0.29, 1.50; C vs. G: OR = 0.95, 95 % CI = 0.56, 1.63). The gene discussed is PTGS2; the disease is head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.