Haplotype-based case-control study of DNA repair gene XRCC3 and hepatocellular carcinoma risk in a Chinese population.

Previous studies indicated that the human X-ray repair complementing group 3 gene (XRCC3) plays an important role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) susceptibility. We aimed to investigate the association of XRCC3 genetic polymorphism with HCC risk. This study was conducted in a Chinese Han population consisting of 300 HCC cases and 300 sex- and age-matched cancer-free controls. Three genetic variants (rs861539, rs12432907, and rs861537) were genotyped by the TaqMan® SNP Genotyping Assay. Our findings suggested that the TT genotype and T allele from rs861539 genetic variants were statistically associated with HCC risk. The TT genotype was statistically associated with the increased risk of HCC compared to CC wild genotype (P < 0.001). And the T allele was more common in the HCC patients than that in the control subjects. (OR = 1.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.457 ~ 2.659, P < 0.001). Haplotype-based case-control study analysis indicated that TTG haplotype was more frequent in HCC groups than in the control group (odds ratio (OR) = 1.967, 95% CI 1.456 ~ 2.658); however, the CTG haplotype is more common in the control group than that in the HCC group (OR = 0.550, 95 % CI 0.430 ~ 0.703; P < 0.001). Our data indicated that genetic variants of the XRCC3 gene were statistically associated with HCC risk in a Chinese population.