Association between the XRCC3 T241M polymorphism and head and neck cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis of case-control studies.

BACKGROUND To evaluate the role of the X-ray repair cross complementing group 3 (XRCC3) T241M polymorphism in head and neck cancer susceptibility. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a meta-analysis of all available studies, which included 3,191 cases and 5,090 controls. RESULTS Overall, a significant risk effect of the T241M polymorphism was not found under homologous contrast (MM vs TT: OR=1.293, 95% CI=0.926-1.805; TM vs TT: OR=1.148 95% CI=0.930-1.418) and recessive models (MM vs TT+TM): OR=1.170, 95% CI=0.905- 1.512, but a significantly increased risk was observed under a dominant model (MM+TM vs TT): OR=1.243, 95% CI=1.001-1.544. In stratified analyses, there were no significant associations for Asians or Caucasians. CONCLUSION Our meta-analysis suggested the XRCC3 241M allele (MM+TM) might act as a head and neck cancer risk factor among all subjects, and the effect of T241M polymorphism on head and neck susceptibility should be studied with a larger, stratified population.