The XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism was associated with the risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma development: Results from a systematic review and meta‐analysis

BACKGROUND: The X‐ray repair cross complementing group 1 (XRCC1) is a DNA repair gene. Various studies have examined the association between XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) susceptibility with contradictory results. So, this systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to assess whether variants of this polymorphism increase the HNSCC risk or not. RECENT FINDINGS: Thirty three studies consisting of 14282 subjects (6012 cases and 8270 controls) were included in this meta‐analysis. Variants of XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism were associated with increased HNSCC risk and the associations were significant based on heterozygous and dominant models (heterozygous model: OR = 1.182, 95%CI = 1.015–1.377, P = 0.032; homozygous model: OR = 1.274, 95%CI = 0.940–1.727, P = 0.119; dominant model: OR = 1.194, 95%CI = 1.027–1.388, P = 0.021; recessive model: OR = 1.181, 95%CI = 0.885–1.576, P = 0.119). There were significant associations between variants of this polymorphism and HNSCC risk based on Asian ethnicity under dominant model, hospital control source under different genetic models, PCR‐RFLP genotyping method under dominant model and oral cavity tumor site under heterozygous and dominant models. OBJECTIVE: The X‐ray repair cross complementing group 1 (XRCC1) is a DNA repair gene. Various studies have examined the association between XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) susceptibility with contradictory results. So, this systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to assess whether variants of this polymorphism increase the HNSCC risk or not. METHODS: A systematic search of the literatures published till April 2022 was conducted using Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Embase databases. The heterogeneity was assessed with the I‐Square statistic. A random effects model or fixed effects model was used to analyze the data. Data were reported by odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). The p value was considered significant if p < .05. RESULTS: Thirty three studies consisting of 14 282 subjects (6012 cases and 8270 controls) were included in this meta‐analysis. Variants of XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism were associated with increased HNSCC risk and the associations were significant based on heterozygous and dominant models (heterozygous model: OR = 1.182, 95%CI = 1.015–1.377, p = .032; homozygous model: OR = 1.274, 95%CI = 0.940–1.727, p = .119; dominant model: OR = 1.194, 95%CI = 1.027–1.388, p = .021; recessive model: OR = 1.181, 95%CI = 0.885–1.576, p = .119). There were significant associations between variants of this polymorphism and HNSCC risk based on Asian ethnicity under dominant model, hospital control source under different genetic models, PCR‐RFLP genotyping method under dominant model and oral cavity tumor site under heterozygous and dominant models. CONCLUSION: Variants of XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism were significantly associated with increased risk of HNSCC development based on heterozygous and dominant genetic models.