Genetic polymorphisms in DNA repair genes and their association with cervical cancer

ABSTRACT

Background and objective: Carcinoma of cervix is the second most common cancer among women worldwide. The DNA repair network plays an important role in the maintenance of genetic stability, protection against DNA damage and carcinogenesis. Alterations in repair genes XRCC1, XRCC2 and XRCC3 and been reported in certain cancers. We hypothesised an association between XRCC1+399A/G, XRCC2+31467G/A and XRCC3+18067C/T polymorphisms and the risk of cervical cancer.

Subjects and methods: This study included 525 subjects (265 controls and 260 cervical cancer cases). Genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).

Results: Women with GA and AA genotypes of XRCC1+399A/G showed 2.4–3.8 fold higher risk of cervical cancer (P = 0.001). The +399A* allele was significantly linked with cervical cancer (P = 0.002). However, XRCC2+31479G/A and XRCC3+18067C/T polymorphisms did not show any statistically significant associations.

Conclusion: The XRCC1+399A/G SNP is linked with cervical cancer. We suggest that this variant can be utilized as a prognostic marker for determination of cervical cancer susceptibility.

KEYWORDS:

• Cervical cancer
• genetic polymorphism
• PCR-RFLP
• repair genes

Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge the financial support from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, Council of Science and Technology, Uttar Pradesh (UP-CST), Lucknow and Central Instrumentation Facility of the department funded by UGC-SAP, DST-FIST-PURSE grants, New Delhi, India. M.A. is thankful to ICMR for senior research fellowship and research associateship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi and Council of Science and Technology, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, India.