Association between polymorphisms in APE1 and XRCC1 and the risk of gastric cancer in Korean population

The DNA repair system plays a pivotal role in maintaining genomic integrity and protection against mutations that could lead to cancer development. The aim of this study was to explore the association between common polymorphisms of DNA repair genes, APE1 (rs1760944 and rs1130409) and XRCC1 (rs1799782, rs25487, and rs25489), and gastric cancer (GC) risk in the Korean population. We conducted a case-control study of 368 GC patients and 398 controls by using TaqMan genotyping assay. None of the polymorphisms was associated with the risk of GC. Further analysis showed a lack of association between APE1 and XRCC1 polymorphisms or haplotypes and the risk of GC and GC subgroups. The heterozygous CT genotype of XRCC1 rs25487 was related to 1.94 times increased risk of lymph node metastasis (LNM) in diffuse type GC compared to the XRCC1 rs25487 CC genotype (adjusted OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.06-3.53, P = 0.031) after adjusting for gender and age, whereas the remaining polymorphisms showed no association with GC or GC subgroups. This result suggests that genetic variation of XRCC1 rs25487 could be a risk factor for LNM in diffuse type of GC in the Korean population.