Lack of association between DNA base excision repair gene XRCC1 Gln399Arg polymorphism and risk of malignant lymphoma in Japan

Growing evidence suggests that the polymorphism of DNA base excision repair gene XRCC1 Arg399Gln is associated with altered DNA repair proficiency and subsequent cancer susceptibility; however, no evidence is available for malignant lymphoma. We therefore conducted a case-control study (372 cases, 500 controls) to evaluate links with malignant lymphoma risk in Japan. The risk was evaluated in terms of odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) adjusted for age and sex in an unconditional logistic regression model. There was no statistical risk change with the Arg/Gln (adjusted OR 0.89; 0.65–1.23, P = 0.492) or the Gln/Gln (0.57; 0.27–1.17, P = 0.127) compared with the Arg/Arg of the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism. The results were unchanged in analyses according to histological subtype (diffuse large lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, low-grade lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, and others). These data suggest that XRCC1 Gln399Arg polymorphism plays a limited role in lymphomagenesis. Further study on the interaction between the polymorphism and environmental exposure is required.