Association of XPC gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to prostate cancer: evidence from 3,936 subjects

Polymorphisms of xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group C (XPC) are thought to have significant effects on prostate cancer (PCa) risk. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of XPC gene polymorphisms on PCa risk by using a meta-analysis. Data were collected from the following electronic databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Elsevier Science Direct, Cochrane Library, and CNKI, with the last report up to April 30, 2013. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were used to assess the strength of the association. A total of five separate case-control studies (1966 cases and 1970 controls) were included in this meta-analysis. Meta-analysis was performed for the rs2228001 and PAT+/-polymorphisms. We did not detect a significant association between rs2228001 polymorphism and PCa (p>0.05). Similar results were found in stratification analyses by ethnicity and tumor stage. We detected a significant association of PAT+/-polymorphism with PCa (p0.05). These analyses suggest that XPC gene PAT+/-polymorphism, but not rs2228001, likely contributes to susceptibility to PCa.