Association of X-ray repair cross-complementing-6 genotypes with childhood leukemia.

BACKGROUND The Non-homologous end-joining repair gene XRCC6/Ku70 plays an important role in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), and has been found to be involved in the carcinogenesis of many types of cancers including oral, prostate, breast and bladder cancer. However, the contribution of XRCC6 to childhood leukemia has yet to be studied. In the present study, we investigated the association of XRCC6 genotypes with the risk of childhood leukemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred and sixty-six patients with childhood leukemia and an equal number of age-matched healthy controls recruited in Central Taiwan, were genotyped investigating these polymorphisms' association with childhood leukemia. RESULTS As for XRCC6 promoter T-991C, patients carrying the TC genotype had a significantly increased risk of childhood leukemia compared with the TT wild-type genotype [odds ratio (OR)=2.30, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.38-3.84, p=0.0047]. Meanwhile, the genotypes of XRCC6 promoter C-57G, A-31G and intron3 were not statistically associated with childhood leukemia risk. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that the XRCC6 genotype could serve as a predictor of childhood leukemia risk and XRCC6 could serve as a target for personalized medicine and therapy.