Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms of DNA repair genes in NER pathway and susceptibility to pancreatic cancer

In our study, we conducted a case-control study to investigate the association of ERCC1, ERCC2, ERCC3, ERCC4, ERCC5, XPA, XPC and DDB2 gene polymorphisms in the risk of pancreatic cancer. Between May 2012 and May 2014, a total of 246 patients with who were newly diagnosed with histopathologically confirmed primary pancreatic cancer and 246 controls were selected into our study. Genotyping of ERCC1 rs3212986 and rs11615, ERCC2 rs13181, ERCC3 rs4150441, ERCC4 rs6498486, ERCC5 rs873601, XPA rs2808668, XPC rs2228000, XPC rs2228001 and DDB2 rs2029298 were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coupled with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). By conditional logistic regression analysis, individuals carrying with TT genotype of ERCC1 rs3212986 and GG genotype of ERCC2 rs13181 were associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer when compared with wide-type genotype, and the adjusted ORs (95% CI) were 2.40 (1.29-4.52) and 2.27 (1.26-4.15), respectively. We found that individuals carrying with GT+TT genotype of ERCC1 rs3212986 and TG+GG genotype of ERCC2 rs1318 gene polymorphisms were correlated with higher risk of pancreatic cancer in smokers when compared with non-smokers, and the adjusted ORs (95% CI) were 1.89 (1.05-3.40) and 1.88 (1.06-3.34), respectively. In conclusion, our study suggests that ERCC1 rs3212986 and ERCC2 rs1318 gene polymorphisms contribute to the development of pancreatic cancer, especially in smokers.