Polymorphisms of XRCC1 and XRCC3 genes and susceptibility to breast cancer.

Mammalian cells are constantly exposed to a wide variety of genotoxic agents from both endogenous and exogenous sources. Genetic variability in DNA repair may contribute to human cancer risk. We used a case-control study design (162 cases and 302 controls) to test the association between three amino acid substitution variants of DNA repair genes (XRCC1 Arg194Trp, XRCC1 Arg399Gln, and XRCC3 Thr241Met) and breast cancer susceptibility. We found a weak association between the XRCC1 194Trp allele and breast cancer risk (adjusted odds ratio (OR)=1.98; 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.85-4.63). We also found a potential gene-gene interaction between the XRCC1 194Trp allele and XRCC3 241Met allele and breast cancer risk (adjusted OR=8.74; 95% CI=1.13-67.53). Although larger studies are needed to validate the study results, our data suggest that amino acid substitution variants of XRCC1 and XRCC3 genes may contribute to breast cancer susceptibility.