| Abstract: | Background: A number of studies have reported the association of X-ray repair cross-complementing group1 (XRCC1) Arg399Gln polymorphism with susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, theresults were inconsistent and inconclusive. The aim of this study was to comprehensively explore the associationof XRCC1 Arg399Gln variant with HCC risk. Materials and Methods: Systematic searches of PubMed, Elsevier,Science Direct, CNKI and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database were performed. Pooled odds ratio (OR)with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated to estimate the strength of association. Results: Overall,we observed an increased HCC risk among subjects carrying XRCC1 codon 399 Gln/Gln, Arg/Gln and Gln/Gln+Arg/Gln genotypes (OR=1.20, 95%CI: 1.05-1.38, OR=1.16, 95%CI: 1.05-1.28, and OR=1.14, 95%CI:1.04-1.24, respectively) based on 20 studies including 3374 cases and 4633 controls. In subgroup analysis, weobserved an increased risk of XRCC1 codon 399 Gln/Gln, Arg/Gln and Gln/Gln+Arg/Gln polymorphisms forHCC in hospital-based study (OR=1.25, 95%CI: 1.03-1.51, OR=1.21, 95%CI: 1.07-1.36 and OR=1.18, 95%CI:1.06-1.31, respectively) and in Asian population (OR=1.19, 95%CI: 1.03-1.38, OR=1.17, 95%CI: 1.04-1.30 andOR=1.14, 95%CI: 1.04-1.25, respectively). Limiting the analysis to the studies with controls in agreement withHardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE), we observed an increased HCC risk among Gln/Gln, Arg/Gln and Gln/Gln+Arg/Gln genotype carriers (OR=1.17, 95%CI: 1.05-1.29, OR=1.12, 95%CI: 1.00-1.25 and OR=1.11, 95%CI:1.02-1.21, respectively). Conclusions: This updated meta-analysis results suggest that XRCC1 Arg399Gln variantsmay contribute to HCC risk. Well-designed studies with larger sample size were required to further verify ourfindings. |
