The relationship between genetic variants of XRCC1 gene and lung cancer susceptibility in Chinese Han population

Previous evidence indicate that genetic variants of X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 gene (XRCC1) are potentially associated with the development of lung cancer. This study aimed to detect the relationship between the XRCC1 genetic variants and lung cancer susceptibility. A total of 420 lung cancer patients and 425 cancer-free healthy controls were recruited in this case–control study. The genotypes of XRCC1 genetic variants were investigated by the polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP). The relationship between the XRCC1 genetic variants and lung cancer susceptibility was determined by the association analyses. We found that the distributions of allelic and genotypic in lung cancer patients were significantly different from those of cancer-free healthy controls. Our data indicated that the XRCC1 c.1161G>A and c.1779C>G genetic variants were significantly associated with the increased susceptibility to lung cancer [for c.1161G>A, AA versus (vs.) GG: odds ratio (OR) 2.59, 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) 1.59–4.21, χ ² = 15.17, P < 0.001; A vs. G: OR 1.39, 95 % CI 1.13–1.70, P = 0.002; for c.1779C>G, GG vs. CC: OR 2.51, 95 % CI 1.42–4.44, χ ² = 10.60, P = 0.001; G vs. C: OR 1.24, 95 % CI 1.00–1.54, χ ² = 3.98, P = 0.046]. The allele A and genotype AA of c.1161G>A and allele G and genotype GG of c.1779C>G genetic variants may enhance lung cancer susceptibility. Taken together, these findings show that the functional c.1161G>A and c.1779C>G genetic variants of XRCC1 are associated with lung cancer susceptibility in the Chinese Han populations and might be used as molecular markers for evaluating the risk of lung cancer.