ERCC1 C19007T polymorphism and the risk and invasiveness of cervical cancer in Korean women

Abstract

Various DNA alterations by environmental or endogenous carcinogens, if not repaired, can cause genetic mutagenesis, resulting in carcinogenesis. A polymorphic variant of excision repair cross-complementation group 1 (ERCC1) (the DNA repair gene) may be associated with carcinogenesis due to reduced DNA repair capacity. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the ERCC1 C19007T polymorphism might be associated with the increased risk and invasiveness of cervical cancer in Korean women. Peripheral blood samples from 229 patients with invasive cervical cancer and 204 non-cancer controls were used to detect the ERCC1 C19007T polymorphism by performing a polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. Allelic frequencies and genotype distributions in the patients' group were compared with those in the control group. The relationship between this polymorphism and cancer invasiveness was also evaluated by analyzing clinicopathological parameters including International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, lymph node status, histological type and parametrial invasion. The analytic methods used were the χ(2) test and logistic regression analysis. The allelic frequencies of patients (A, 0.758; C, 0.242) were not significantly different from that of controls (A, 0.755; C, 0.245) (P = 0.925). The C/C genotype had no increased risk for cervical cancer susceptibility compared with the TT genotype (P = 0.932). A subgroup analysis of the clinicopathological parameters in the cancer group also showed that there is no significant association between the ERCC1 C19007T polymorphism and cervical cancer invasiveness. This study shows that the ERCC1 C19007T polymorphism might not be associated with the risk and invasiveness of cervical cancer in Korean women.