XRCC3 T241M Polymorphism is Associated Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the Chinese

The X-ray repair cross-complementing group 3 (XRCC3) gene has been suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the results have been inconsistent. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis to clarify the association of XRCC3 Thr241Met variant with HCC. The published literature from PubMed, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wan Fang data was retrieved. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence interval (CI) was calculated using fixed or random effects model. A total of five studies (1,531 HCC cancer cases and 1,952 controls) for XRCC3 Thr241Met variant were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed that XRCC3 Thr241Met variant was associated with HCC risk under homogeneous codominant model (OR = 3.99, 95 % CI = 1.74-9.13) and recessive model (OR = 5.22, 95 % CI = 3.65-7.48), but not under heterogeneous codominant model (OR = 1.18, 95 % CI = 0.68-2.05) and dominant model (OR = 1.37, 95 % CI = 0.73-2.57). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity suggested that XRCC3 Thr241Met variant was associated with HCC risk in Chinese population, but not in Pakistani population. The present meta-analysis supported the positive association of XRCC3 Thr241Met variant with HCC in the Chinese. Further large-scale studies with the consideration for gene-gene/gene-environment interactions should be conducted to investigate the association.