Purpose: The relationship between aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) exposure and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been previously demonstrated and supported with strong epidemiological evidence. However, the role of genetic polymorphism of X-ray cross-complementing group 3 (XRCC3) codon 241 (namely: Thr241Met), which may be involved in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks caused by carcinogens such as AFB1, been less well elaborated.
Methods: We conducted a case-control study including 491 cases and 862 controls to evaluate the associations between this polymorphism and HCC risk for Guangxi population by means of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.
Results: We found that individuals with the XRCC3 genotypes with codon 241 Met (namely XRCC3-TM or XRCC3-MM) had an increased risk of HCC than those with the homozygote of XRCC3 codon 241 Thr alleles (namely XRCC3-TT, adjusted odds ratios 2.22 and 7.19; 95% confidence intervals 1.72-2.88 and 4.52-11.42, respectively). The risk of HCC, moreover, did appear to differ more significantly among individuals featuring high-level AFB1-DNA adducts, whose adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 11.59 (5.73-23.47) and 37.54 (16.32-86.32), respectively.
Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that the XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism may be associated with the risk of AFB1-related HCC among the Guangxi population.