Introduction: Cigarette smoke and alcohol can generate reactive oxygen species, which may induce DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), the most serious DNA lesion. In humans, DSBs are repaired mainly by non-homologous end joining and homologous recombination repair (HRR). Several polymorphisms in the DNA repair gene have been extensively studied in the association with various human cancers. In the present work we investigated the association between polymorphisms of two HRR genes, XRCC2 and RAD51, and tobacco- and alcohol-related larynx cancer in a Polish population.
Material and methods: Two polymorphisms of the XRCC2 gene, –41657C>T (rs718282) and 31479G>A (rs3218536), as well as one polymorphism of the RAD51 gene, –135G>C (rs1801320), were investigated by PCR-RFLP in 253 patients with larynx cancer and 253 age- and sex-matched non-cancer controls.
Results: Analysis of the gene-smoking and -drinking interactions revealed a weak association between larynx cancer and the –41657C>T polymorphisms of the XRCC2 gene among the moderate alcohol drinkers. The C allele of the –135G>C polymorphism of RAD51 increased cancer risk in the smoker group. Increased risk was also found for heavy drinkers. Additionally, there were no significant differences between distributions of genotypes in subgroups assigned to different TNM stages and grades.
Conclusions: The results indicated that the –135G>C polymorphism of the RAD51 gene may be associated with smoking- and drinking-related larynx cancer in Poland.