Background: The incidence rate for breast cancer (BC) has been increasing in many countries and BC still remains the most common form of cancer in female and continues to be a major health problem worldwide. We explored the association of single nucleotide polymorphisins (SNPs) in DNA repair genes with breast cancer. Methods: SSCP and RFLP were used to analyze genotypes of DNA repair genes for NBS1, XPC, XPD and XRCC3. Results: T/C in XRCC3 exon 7 had a somewhat deviation from HWE in BC group (P=0.08). The genotype frequency for heterozygote A/C in XPC exon 15 and T/C in XRCC3 exon 7, homozygote A/A in XPD exon 10 were significantly different between BC group and control group in Chinese population (P < 0.05, OR= 1.47, 95% Cl, 1.00-2.16 for A/C in XPC exon 15; P < 0.05, OR= 1.79, 95% CI, 0.98-3.26 for T/C in XRCC3 exon 7; P < 0.05, OR=0.51, 95% Cl, 0.27-0.94 for G/A in XPD exon 10). For the SNPs in NBS1 exon 5 (Glu185GIn, G/C) and XPD exon 23 (Lys751 Gln, A/C), no remarkable difference for genotype distributions and allele frequencies was observed between BC group and control group in the study. Conclusions: The genotypes of A/C in APC exon 15, T/C in XRCC3 exon 7 and A/A in XPD exon 10 studied were significantly different between BC group and control group in Chinese population. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.