The DNA Repair Gene APE1 T1349G Polymorphism and Risk of Gastric Cancer in a Chinese Population

BACKGROUND Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) has a central role in the repair of apurinic apyrimidic sites through both its endonuclease and its phosphodiesterase activities. A common APE1 polymorphism, T1349G (rs3136820), was previously shown to be associated with the risk of cancers. OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that the APE1 T1349G polymorphism is also associated with risk of gastric cancer. METHODS In a hospital-based case-control study of 338 case patients with newly diagnosed gastric cancer and 362 cancer-free controls frequency-matched by age and sex, we genotyped the T1349G polymorphism and assessed its associations with risk of gastric cancer. RESULTS Compared with the APE1 TT genotype, individuals with the variant TG/GG genotypes had a significantly increased risk of gastric cancer (odds ratio = 1.69, 95% confidence interval = 1.19-2.40), which was more pronounced among subgroups of aged ≤ 60 years, male, ever smokers, and ever drinkers. Further analyses revealed that the variant genotypes were associated with an increased risk for diffuse-type, low depth of tumor infiltration (T1 and T2), and lymph node metastasis gastric cancer. CONCLUSIONS The APE1 T1349G polymorphism may be a marker for the development of gastric cancer in the Chinese population. Larger studies are required to validate these findings in diverse populations.