Association of ERCC1 and ERCC2 polymorphisms with colorectal cancer risk in a Chinese population

The ERCC1 and ERCC2 genes are important in repairing DNA damage and genomic instability and are involved in the nucleotide excision repair pathway. We hypothesized that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ERCC1 and ERCC2 are associated with the risk of colorectal cancer in a Chinese population. To test this hypothesis, we genotyped four functional SNPs (ERCC1 Asn118Asn, C8092A, ERCC2 Asp312Asn and Lys751Gln) in a case-control study with 213 colorectal cancer cases and 240 cancer-free controls. We found that the ERCC1 C8092A polymorphism AA and CA/AA variant genotypes were associated with a significantly increased risk of colorectal cancer, compared with the CC genotype (OR = 2.50, 95% CI = 1.10–5.70 for AA versus CC and OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.08–2.30 for CA/AA versus CC). Furthermore, the effect appeared to be more prominent among men, smokers, drinkers and patients with rectal cancer. However, no other SNPs were observed for any significant association with colorectal cancer risk. These results suggest that the ERCC1 C8092A polymorphism may contribute to colorectal cancer susceptibility in the Chinese population. Further large and functional studies are needed to confirm our findings.