No association of XRCC1 polymorphisms Arg194Trp and Arg399Gln with colorectal cancer risk

Background: X-ray repair cross complementation group 1 (XRCC1) plays a key role in base excision repair. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of two genetic polymorphisms in XRCC1 (rs1799782 and rs25487) with risk of colorectal polyps and colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: In the ongoing colorectal cancer study of Austria (CORSA), a total of 3091 Caucasian participants was genotyped using 5′-nuclease TaqMan assays. Multiple logistic regression was applied to compare individuals of the control group against three different case groups namely CRC cases, high-risk and low-risk polyps. Results: The two investigated SNPs in XRCC1 were not found to be associated with neither CRC risk nor polyp risk. Comparing the CRC cases versus the controls the OR was 0.60 (95%CI 0.27–1.31) for the heterozygous polymorphic genotype of SNP rs1799782 and 1.47 (95%CI 0.81–2.65) for the homozygous polymorphic genotype of SNP rs25487. Comparing the high-risk polyp group versus the controls the OR was 2.64 (95%CI 0.61–11.42) for the homozygous polymorphic genotype of SNP rs1799782 and 0.89 (95%CI 0.60–1.33) for SNP rs25487, respectively. In an haplotype analysis also no statistically significant association was found. Conclusion: Our finding that none of the two investigated SNPs of XRCC1 were significantly associated with risk of CRC or polyps is consistent with the results of a recently published meta-analysis.