An updated meta-analysis between the association of XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma risk

Background: Various studies have evaluated the relationship between X-ray repair cross-complementinggroup 1 (XRCC1) Arg399Gln polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk, but the conclusionshave been inconsistent and underpowered. The purpose of this updated meta-analysis was to examine whetherXRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism confers susceptibility to HCC.
Methods: Eligible studies extracted fromPubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, VIP (chinese) and CNKI (chinese) up to November 2013 were included inthe study. Pooled odds ratio (OR) together with their 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated to evaluateXRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism and HCC risk.
Results: Finally, 21 studies with 4,170 cases and 5,030controls were involved in our meta-analysis. The results demonstrated that there was significant associationbetween Arg399Gln polymorphism and HCC risk under two contrast models in overall populations (AG vs GG:OR=1.265, 95%CI=1.036-1.545, p=0.021; AA+AG vs GG: OR=1.240, 95%CI=1.021-1.506, p=0.030). In subgroupanalyses, significant association was found in Asians (A vs G: OR=1.175, 95%CI=1.013-1.362, p=0.033; AG vsGG: OR=1.317, 95%CI=1.070-1.622, p=0.009; AA+AG vs GG: OR=1.289, 95%CI=1.055-1.575, p=0.013) andCaucasians (A vs G: OR=0.591, 95%CI=0.361-0.966, p=0.036; AA+AG vs GG: OR=0.468, 95%CI=0.234-0.934,p=0.031).
Conclusions: The results suggest that XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism may increase HCC riskespecially among Asians. However, XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism might act as a protective role againstHCC among Caucasians.