XRCC1 rs25487 polymorphism predicts the survival of patients after postoperative radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer.

BACKGROUND Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a DNA-repair gene, X-Ray repair cross complementing group 1 (XRCC1), have been associated with the survival of patients with breast cancer. We investigated the predictive value of XRCC1 SNP (rs25487) in patients with early breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS The XRCC1 rs25487 genotypes of 411 Finnish patients with breast cancer were analyzed by a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism-based method. Survival was assessed by Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis according to the XRCC1 genotypes in specified adjuvant treatment groups. RESULTS The rs25487 variant AA genotype was associated with worse breast cancer-specific and overall survival in 238 patients receiving postoperative radiotherapy (p=0.031 and p=0.030, respectively). The AA genotype predicted worse breast cancer-specific survival among 75 patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy (p=0.047). CONCLUSION The XRCC1 rs25487 genotype may predict the outcome of postoperative radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer.