The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism in the susceptibility of a Kashmiri population to colorectal cancer (CRC). We investigated the genotype distribution of the XRCC1 gene in 130 CRC cases in comparison with that of 150 healthy subjects. There was no direct significant association between the XRCC1 genotypes and CRC; however, the Arg/Gln genotype was associated with an elevated risk of CRC (OR>1.47) and the Gln/Gln variant genotype was associated with an increased risk of CRC in various clinicopathological parameters. This study suggests that the XRCC1 polymorphism is associated with an increased risk of CRC.
Keywords: Kashmir; XRCC1; colorectal cancer; polymorphism.