Haplotype analysis of XRCC2 gene polymorphisms and association with increased risk of head and neck cancer

We aimed to investigate the effect of hotspot variations of XRCC2 gene on the risk of head and neck cancer (HNC) in 400 patients and 400 controls. Five polymorphisms of XRCC2 gene G4234C (rs3218384), G4088T (rs3218373), G3063A (rs2040639), R188H (rs3218536) and rs7802034 were analyzed using Allele- specific polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) followed by sequence analysis. For rs3218373, the GG genotype indicated a statistically significant 3-fold increased risk of HNC (P < 0.001) after multivariate adjustment. For rs7802034, the GG genotype suggested statistically significant 2-fold increased risk of HNC (P < 0.001). For SNP of rs3218536, the AA genotype indicated a significant 3-fold increased risk of HNC (P < 0.001). Additionally, haplotype analysis revealed that TACAG, TGGAG, TACGG and TAGGA haplotypes of XRCC2 polymorphisms are associated with HNC risk. Two SNPs in XRCC2 (rs2040639 and rs3218384) were found increased in strong linkage disequilibrium. Furthermore, joint effect model showed 20 fold (OR = 19.89; 95% CI = 2.65–149.36, P = 0.003) increased HNC risk in patients carrying four homozygous risk alleles of selected polymorphisms. These results show that allele distributions and genotypes of XRCC2 SNPs are significantly associated with increased HNC risk and could be a genetic adjuster for the said disease.