Objective: In this study, genetic polymorphisms, XRCC1 Arg399Gln and OGG1 Ser326Cys were examined with reference to cervical cancer risk in a population-based incident case-control study in Japan.
Methods: The cases comprised 131 cervical cancer patients: 87 cases with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and 44 with adenocarcinoma (ADC) or adenosquamous carcinoma (ADSC). Controls were sampled from 320 healthy women who underwent a health checkup.
Results: The frequency of the XRCC1 399GlnGln genotype was higher in individuals with adenocarcinoma/adenosquamous carcinoma than in the healthy controls (OR = 2.98, 95% CI = 1.11-8.01, P = 0.030). However, no association was demonstrated in SCC. Analysis of OGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism showed no significant differences between cervical cancer patients and controls. In stratification analysis, significant elevated risk of adenocarcinoma/adenosquamous carcinoma was associated with the XRCC1 399GlnGln genotype among nonsmokers (OR = 3.85, 95% CI = 1.28-11.59, P = 0.017), but not among smokers. No gene-gene interaction was observed in our case subjects.
Conclusion: This is the first report that the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism might be important in relation to the risk of adenocarcinoma/adenosquamous carcinoma of the cervix.