Background and aims: Polymorphisms in DNA repair gene may alter an individual's DNA repair capacity and be associated with the risk of various cancers. This study was designed to investigate whether ERCC1 +262A/C and XPF -357A/C polymorphisms affect individual susceptibility to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and gastric cardiac adenocarcinoma (GCA).
Methods: In 389 ESCC patients vs. 778 healthy controls and 262 GCA patients vs. 524 healthy controls in a high incidence region of northern China, ERCC1 +262A/C polymorphism and XPF -357A/C polymorphism were genotyped by the method of polymerase chain reaction ligase detection reaction (PCR-LDR) and polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis, respectively.
Results: Family history of upper gastrointestinal cancers (UGIC) may increase the risk of ESCC and GCA. Allelotype and genotype distributions of ERCC1 +262A/C and XPF -357A/C polymorphisms in ESCC and GCA patients were not significantly different from that in their respective controls (p >0.05). Compared with ERCC1 +262C/C genotype, A/A genotype decreased the risk of GCA in nonsmokers (age, gender and family history of UGIC adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.13-0.70). Neither the A/C nor the C/C genotype was associated with the overall risk of ESCC and GCA when compared with the XPF -357A/A genotype.
Conclusions: ERCC1 +262A/A genotype may reduce the risk of GCA for nonsmokers. XPF -357A/C polymorphism was not associated with the risk of ESCC and GCA in a population of a high-incidence region in northern China.
Copyright © 2012 IMSS. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.