The meta-analysis results suggest that the XRCC1 Arg399Gln and Arg280His polymorphisms are probably not associated with the risk of HNC, but the XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism was associated with increased risk of HNC in the subgroup analysis of studies adjusted for smoking and alcohol and with increased risk of oral cancer in the stratified analyses based on cancer site.
A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify all case-control studies of the XRCC1 Arg194Trp and Arg280His polymorphisms in head and neck cancer.