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Qingyi Wei

Publications and source records attributed to Qingyi Wei.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Polymorphisms of DNA repair genes and risk of glioma.

DNA repair genes play a major role in maintaining genomic stability through different repair pathways that are mediated by cell cycle control genes such as p53. We found previously that glioma patients were susceptible to gamma-ray-induced chromosomal breaks, which may be influenced by genetic variation in genes involved in DNA strand breaks, such as XRCC1 in single-strand break repair, XRCC3 and RAD51 in homologous recombination repair, and XRCC7 in nonhomologous end joining double-strand break repair. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that genetic polymorphisms in XRCC1, XRCC3, RAD51, XRCC7, and p53 were associated with risk of glioma in 309 patients with newly diagnosed glioma and 342 cancer-free control participants frequency matched on age (+/- 5 years), sex, and self-reported ethnicity. We did not find any statistically significant differences in the distributions of XRCC1 Arg399Gln, XRCC3 Thr241Met, RAD51 G135C, and P53 Arg72Pro polymorphisms between the cases and the controls. However, the XRCC7 G6721T variant T allele and TT genotype were more common in the cases (0.668 and 43.4%, respectively) than in the controls (0.613 and 38.9%, respectively), and the differences were statistically significant (P = 0.045 and 0.040, respectively). The adjusted odds ratios were 1.78 (95% confidence interval, 1.08-2.94) and 1.86 (95% confidence interval, 1.12-3.09) for the GT heterozygotes and TT homozygotes, respectively. The combined T variant genotype (GT+TT) was associated with a 1.82-fold increased risk of glioma (95% confidence interval, 1.13-2.93). These results suggest that the T allele may be a risk allele, and this XRCC7 polymorphism may be a marker for the susceptibility to glioma. Larger studies are needed to confirm our findings and unravel the underlying mechanisms.

Adult↗

Disruption of the Rad9/Rad1/Hus1 (9-1-1) complex leads to checkpoint signaling and replication defects.

The checkpoint sliding-clamp complex, Rad9/Rad1/Hus1, plays a critical role during initiation of checkpoint signals in response to DNA damage and replication disruption. We investigated the impact of loss of Rad1 on checkpoint function and on DNA replication in mammalian cells. We show that RAD1 is an essential gene for sustained cell proliferation and that loss of Rad1 causes destabilization of Rad9 and Hus1 and consequently disintegration of the sliding-clamp complex. In Rad1-depleted cells, Atr-dependent Chk1 activation was impaired whereas Atm-mediated Chk2 activation was unaffected, suggesting that the sliding clamp is required primarily in Atr-dependent signal activation. Disruption of sliding-clamp function also caused a major defect in S-phase control. Rad1-depleted cells exhibited an RDS phenotype, indicating that damage-induced S-phase arrest was compromised by Rad1 loss. Furthermore, lack of Rad1 also affected the efficiency of replication recovery from DNA synthesis blockage, resulting in a prolonged S phase. These deficiencies may perpetually generate DNA strand breakage as we have found chromosomal abnormalities in Rad1-depleted cells. We conclude that the Rad9/Rad1/Hus1 complex is essential for Atr-dependent checkpoint signaling, which may play critical roles in the facilitation of DNA replication and in the maintenance of genomic integrity.

Cell Cycle↗

Identification of genetic variants in base excision repair pathway and their associations with risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The etiology of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has been shown to be associated with genetic and certain environmental factors that produce DNA damage. Base excision repair (BER) genes are responsible for repair of DNA damage caused by reactive oxygen species and other electrophiles and therefore are good candidate susceptibility genes for ESCC. We first screened eight BER genes for new and potential functional polymorphisms by resequencing 27 DNA samples. We then identified and genotyped for important tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a case-control study of 419 patients with newly diagnosed esophageal cancer and 480 healthy controls by frequency matching on age and sex. The association between genotypes and ESCC risk was estimated by unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis, and stepwise regression procedure was used for constructing the final logistic regression model. We identified 129 SNPs in the eight BER genes, including 18 SNPs that cause amino acid changes. In the final model, 4 SNPs, including 2 in the coding regions (ADPRT Val762Ala and MBD4 Glu346Lys) and others in noncoding regions (LIG3 A3704G and XRCC1 T-77C), remained as significant predictors for the risk of ESCC. The adjusted odd ratios were 1.25 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-1.53] for the ADPRT 762Ala allele, 1.25 (95% CI 1.02-1.53) for the MBD4 346 Lys allele, 0.78 (95% CI 0.63-0.97) for the LIG3 3704G allele, and 1.38 (95% CI 1.01-1.89) for the XRCC1-77C allele. In addition, we observed a significant gene-gene interaction between XRCC1 Gln399Arg and ADPRT Val762Ala. The results suggest that the polymorphisms in five BER genes may be associated with the susceptibility to ESCC in a Chinese population.

ADP Ribose Transferases↗

Association between the V109G polymorphism of the p27 gene and the risk and progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

PURPOSE: Abnormalities in p27 may alter cell cycle delay required for DNA repair after exposure to carcinogens. A coding exon 1 polymorphism at codon 109 (T-->G) in p27 was identified and thought to have an effect on the functions of its protein. We hypothesized that this p27 T109G polymorphism is associated with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) risk. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We tested this hypothesis in a hospital-based case-control study of 713 patients newly diagnosed with SCCHN and 1224 cancer-free controls frequency matched to the cases by age (+/-5 years), sex, and smoking status. All subjects were non-Hispanic whites. We genotyped for this p27 variant using genomic DNA from each subject. RESULTS: Compared with the p27 109VV variant, the p27 109GG variant was associated with a nonsignificantly increased risk of SCCHN [crude odds ratio (OR) = 1.29; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.88-1.90; adjusted OR = 1.20; 95% CI = 0.81-1.77], but the risk was statistically significant among men (adjusted OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.00-2.42), current alcohol users (adjusted OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.01-2.82), and patients with oral cavity cancer (adjusted OR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.03-3.04). The p27 109GG variant was also associated with oral tumor overall stage, suggesting that it may play a role in tumor progression. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the p27 109GG variant genotype may not play a major role in the etiology of SCCHN but may be associated with an increased risk in at-risk subgroups or subsets of SCCHN, particularly oral cavity cancer and possibly tumor progression. Larger studies with oral squamous cell carcinoma are needed to verify these findings.

Adolescent↗

Association of a p73 exon 2 G4C14-to-A4T14 polymorphism with risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

p73, a novel p53 homolog, has some p53-like activity and plays an important role in modulating cell-cycle control, apoptosis and cell growth. p73 regulates differentiation of head and neck squamous epithelium, and changes in p73 may lead to the development of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Two linked non-coding exon 2 polymorphisms (designated as G4C14-to-A4T14) were identified recently but their functional relevance is unknown. We hypothesized that this p73 polymorphism plays a role in the etiology of SCCHN. Therefore, in this hospital-based case-control study of 708 patients newly diagnosed with SCCHN and 1229 cancer-free controls, we evaluated the association between the p73 AT variant allele and risk of SCCHN. The controls were frequency-matched to the cases by age (+/-5 years), sex and smoking status, and all subjects were non-Hispanic whites. Our results showed that the frequencies of variant AT allele and genotypes were more common in the cases than in the controls (P = 0.029 and P = 0.009, respectively). Compared with the GC/GC genotype, the variant genotypes (GC/AT + AT/AT) were associated with a statistically significantly increased risk for SCCHN [odds ratio (OR) = 1.33, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.10-1.60]. Further stratification analyses by age, sex, smoking and alcohol status and by cancer sites within the head and neck region indicated that this significantly increased risk was more pronounced in younger (< or =50 years) individuals (adjusted OR = 1.70; 95% CI, 1.19-2.43), women (1.61; 1.09-2.37), current smokers (1.77; 1.25-2.51) and patients with oral cancer (1.54; 1.15-2.07). Our results suggest that this p73 polymorphism may be a risk marker for genetic susceptibility to SCCHN.

Adolescent↗

Reduced DNA repair of benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide-induced adducts and common XPD polymorphisms in breast cancer patients.

Environmental chemicals are thought to play a role in the etiology of breast cancer, because polycyclic acromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-DNA adducts are detectable in normal and malignant breast tissues. Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) from female breast cancer patients were more sensitive to in vitro exposure to benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE) than those from healthy controls. Therefore, we hypothesized that reduced DNA repair is associated with risk of breast cancer in women and the risk may be modulated by polymorphisms of DNA repair genes. In a case-control pilot study, we included 69 previously untreated female breast cancer patients and 79 controls frequency matched to the cases on age and ethnicity. The PBLs were used to measure DNA repair capacity (DRC) by using the host-cell reactivation (HCR) assay with a reporter gene damaged by exposure to 60 micro M BPDE prior to transfection. We also genotyped for two common XPD polymorphisms Lys751Gln and Asp312Asn. We found that the mean DRC level was significantly lower in breast cancer patients (10.1%) than in controls (11.1%) (P = 0.008). Subjects with DRC lower than the median level of controls (11.0%) had >3-fold increased risk (OR = 3.36, 95% CI = 1.15-9.80) for breast cancer than did those with higher DRC after adjustment for age, smoking status and assay-related variables. None of the genotypes was statistically significantly associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, which may be due to the small number of observations in each subgroup. The XPD variant genotypes in general predicted the DRC better in the controls than in the cases, suggesting genetic variants of other DNA repair genes may be involved in these breast cancer patients. These findings suggest that women with reduced DRC may be at an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Large studies are warranted to confirm these preliminary findings.

7,8-Dihydro-7,8-dihydroxybenzo(a)pyrene 9,10-oxide↗

Glutathione S-transferase polymorphisms and survival in primary malignant glioma.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between glutathione S-transferase (GST) polymorphisms and survival, and chemotherapy-related toxicity in 278 glioma patients. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We determined genetic variants for GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 enzymes by PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphisms. We conducted Kaplan-Meier and Cox-proportional hazard analyses to examine whether the GST polymorphisms are related to overall survival, and logistic regression analysis to explore whether the GST polymorphisms are associated with toxicity. RESULTS: For patients with anaplastic astrocytoma, anaplastic oligodendroglioma, anaplastic oligoastrocytoma, and anaplastic ependymoma (n = 78), patients with GSTP1*A/*A-M1 null genotype survived longer than did the rest of the group (median survival "not achieved," and 41 months, respectively; P = 0.06). Among patients treated with nitrosoureas (n = 108), those with GSTP1*A/*A and GSTM1 null genotype were 5.7 times (95% confidence interval, 0.9-37.4) more likely to experience an adverse event secondary to chemotherapy, compared with the others. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with anaplastic astrocytoma, anaplastic oligodendroglioma, and anaplastic oligoastrocytoma, combination of germ-line GSTP1*A/*A and GSTM1 null genotype confers a survival advantage. Patients with this genotype also have an increased risk of adverse events secondary to chemotherapy that primarily comprised nitrosourea alkylating agents.

Adult↗

Polymorphisms of DNA repair gene XRCC3 Thr241Met and risk of gastric cancer in a Chinese population.

Mammalian cells are constantly exposed to a wide variety of genotoxic agents from both endogenous and exogenous sources. Genetic variability in DNA repair may contribute to human cancer risk. In this population-based case-control study in China, we tested the hypothesis that a C to T variant (Thr241Met) of DNA repair gene XRCC3 (X-ray repair cross-complementing group 3) is associated with risk of developing gastric cancer. We genotyped for this variant using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) in 188 histologically confirmed gastric cancer patients and 166 frequency-matched cancer-free controls. The XRCC3 genotype and allele frequencies were not significantly different between cases and controls (P = 0.99 for genotype; P = 0.76 for allele). The XRCC3 241Met allele frequency (4.8%) was significantly lower in healthy Chinese controls than previously reported healthy US Caucasian controls (38.9%). Compared with the XRCC3 241Thr/Thr genotype, the variant XRCC3241Thr/Met and Met/Met genotypes were not associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer (adjusted odds ratio (OR(a)), 1.06; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.52-2.16). These findings suggest that polymorphisms of XRCC3 Thr241Met may not play a role in the etiology of gastric cancer. Further studies with a larger number of subjects and simultaneous measurement of different polymorphisms in DNA repair genes in the same pathway are needed to confirm these findings.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Gamma radiation sensitivity and risk of malignant and benign salivary gland tumors: a pilot case-control analysis.

BACKGROUND: The salivary gland is a highly radiosensitive organ. Exposure to gamma radiation is a risk factor for both malignant (MSTs) and benign salivary gland tumors (BSTs), but the exact mechanisms remain unknown. The objectives of the current study were to determine whether gamma radiation-induced chromatid breaks increase the risk of MSTs and BSTs and whether there is any difference in risk between these two diseases. METHODS: The authors performed a pilot case-control study of 57 patients with salivary gland diseases (45 patients with MSTs and 12 patients with BSTs) and 105 cancer-free controls. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from these participants were cultured and exposed to gamma radiation (1.5 grays). Five hours later, metaphase spread slides were evaluated. The chromatid breaks in 50 well-spread metaphase slides were counted to determine the average number of chromatid breaks per cell (b/c). RESULTS: Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that gamma radiation-induced b/c values greater than the median of the controls were a significant risk factor for salivary gland tumors (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 17.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.92-60.49). The risk remained significant for MSTs (adjusted OR, 40.45; 95% CI, 5.27-310.17) but was of borderline significance for BSTs (adjusted OR, 4.73; 95% CI, 0.94-23.87) when these tumors were analyzed separately. CONCLUSIONS: In the current study, high levels of chromatid breaks in lymphocytes induced by gamma irradiation were associated with an independent risk for MSTs and were likely to increase the risk of BSTs. However, larger studies are needed to verify these findings.

Adult↗

Pooled analysis of alcohol dehydrogenase genotypes and head and neck cancer: a HuGE review.

Possession of the fast metabolizing alleles for alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), ADH1B*2 and ADH1C*1, and the null allele for aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), ALDH2*2, results in increased acetylaldehyde levels and is hypothesized to increase the risk of head and neck cancer. To examine this association, the authors undertook a Human Genome Epidemiology review on these three genes and a pooled analysis of published studies on ADH1C. The majority of Asians had the fast ADH1B*2 and ADH1C*1 alleles, while the majority of Caucasians had the slow ADH1B*1/1 and ADH1C*1/2 genotypes. The ALDH2*2 null allele was frequently observed among Asians, though it was rarely observed in other populations. In a pooled analysis of data from seven case-control studies with a total of 1,325 cases and 1,760 controls, an increased risk of head and neck cancer was not observed for the ADH1C*1/2 genotype (odds ratio = 1.00, 95% confidence interval: 0.81, 1.23) or the ADH1C*1/1 genotype (odds ratio = 1.14, 95% confidence interval: 0.92, 1.41). Increased relative risks of head and neck cancer were reported for the ADH1B*1/1 and ALDH2*1/2 genotypes in several studies. Recommendations for future studies include larger sample sizes and incorporation of relevant ADH and ALDH genes simultaneously, as well as other genes. These considerations suggest the potential for the organization of a consortium of investigators conducting studies in this field.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗

Matched analysis of survival in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck diagnosed before and after 40 years of age.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the survival rates of patients 40 years or younger and diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) with those of patients older than 40 years who underwent the same treatment. In 2 previous matched-pair analyses, the patients had been matched for tumor stage, site, sex, and date of presentation but not type of treatment. METHODS: Between 1995 and 2001, 46 patients 40 years or younger participated in a prospective epidemiologic study that included more than 500 patients newly diagnosed with SCCHN. We matched each of these patients by sex, race, tumor site, overall stage, and treatment modality with 2 patients older than 40 years. Ultimately, 31 of the younger patients were matched with 62 of the older patients. Survival analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazard models and accounting for the matched trios. RESULTS: There was no difference in overall, disease-specific, or recurrence-free survival rates between the patients who were 40 years or younger and those older than 40 years. Furthermore, matched survival analysis did not demonstrate a difference in overall survival rate (risk ratio [RR], 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22-2.29; P =.56), disease-free survival rate (RR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.20-3.33; P =.79), or time to recurrence (RR, 1.46; 95% CI, 0.50-4.23; P =.49), and was not affected by adjustment for medical comorbidities or the severity of cancer-associated symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence of a difference in the survival rates of patients with SCCHN who were 40 years or younger or older than 40 years and underwent similar treatment at our institution.

Adult↗

Gamma radiation-induced apoptosis, G2 delay, and the risk of salivary and thyroid carcinomas--a preliminary report.

BACKGROUND: While radiation has been the only well-established risk factor for salivary and thyroid cancers, the exact mechanisms remain unknown. We hypothesized that individuals with altered apoptotic response to gamma irradiation may be susceptible to salivary and thyroid cancers. METHODS: We tested our hypothesis in a pilot case-control study of 29 patients with neoplasms of the salivary and thyroid glands and 29 cancer-free control subjects. Patients and control subjects were matched on age, sex, and ethnicity. In vitro gamma radiation-induced apoptosis in lymphocytes was quantified utilizing the TUNEL assay and flow cytometry. RESULTS: The mean apoptotic capacity was 13.55 +/- 10.54 for control subjects, 5.75 +/- 4.96 for patients with salivary gland carcinomas (p =.003), and 6.87 +/- 4.45 for patients with thyroid carcinomas (p =.006). These differences were associated with a 10-fold increased risk of salivary gland carcinoma (odds ratio [OR] = 10.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.21-94.86) and a four-fold increased risk of thyroid carcinoma (OR = 3.93; 95% CI, 0.90-17.08). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggests that gamma radiation-induced apoptosis may serve as a biomarker of genetic susceptibility to salivary and thyroid carcinoma, and further confirmatory studies with larger sample size are warranted.

Adult↗

Descriptive epidemiology and risk factors for head and neck cancer.

Although more common in developing countries, over 11,000 deaths will occur in the United States from head and neck cancer in 2004. Squamous cell carcinomas account for the vast majority of cases in the United States and the majority of these are related to exposure to tobacco and alcohol. Newer data suggest a genetic contribution. This group is the focus of primary and secondary preventative efforts.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗

Serum and lymphocyte levels of heat shock protein 70 in aging: a study in the normal Chinese population.

Heat shock proteins (Hsps) have been reported to play an important role in both physiological and pathological processes. Hsps also may serve as biomarkers for evaluating disease states and exposure to environmental stresses. Whether Hsp levels in serum and lymphocytes are correlated with age and sex is largely unknown. In this study, we analyzed serum Hsp70 (the most abundant mammalian Hsp) levels by using Western dot blot in 327 healthy male donors aged between 15 and 50 years. We also investigated the association between Hsp70 levels and age in lymphocytes of 80 normal individuals aged between 40 and 77 years because various chronic diseases increase after the age of 40 years. Our data showed that serum Hsp70 levels were positively correlated with age in subjects aged between 15 and 30 years (P < 0.05) but negatively correlated with age in subjects aged between 30 and 50 years (P < 0.05). Serum Hsp70 levels were the highest in individuals aged between 25 and 30 years among all age groups. In the lymphocyte study there also was a significant age-related decrease in Hsp70 levels in lymphocytes of individuals older than 40 years. The Hsp70 levels were negatively correlated with age (r = -3.708, P < 0.0001) but not with sex (r = -10.536, P = 0.452). This suggests that both serum and lymphocyte Hsp70 levels are age-related and that these may be linked to age-related stress. Thus, age is an important factor in using serum and lymphocyte Hsp70 as biomarkers to evaluate the disease states or exposure to environmental stresses (or both).

Adolescent↗

Frequency-specific association of antibodies against heat shock proteins 60 and 70 with noise-induced hearing loss in Chinese workers.

Noise exposure may result in production of auto-antibodies against heat shock proteins (Hsps), which might be of significance in the pathogenesis or prognosis (or both) of auto-immune ear diseases. However, it is not known whether these antibodies are associated with noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) in workers exposed to noise in occupational settings. Using immunoblotting with human recombinant Hsps, audiological assessment, and multivariate logistic regression models, we investigated the presence of antibodies against Hsp60 and Hsp70 and hearing levels, and analyzed their associations with NIHL in 399 workers exposed to noise between 75 and 115 dB. Our findings showed that the prevalence of positive anti-Hsp70 was significantly higher in the workers with slight and moderate high-frequency hearing loss than in normal workers (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the prevalence of positive anti-Hsp60 in workers with moderate low-frequency NIHL was significantly higher than in the normal (P < 0.01). The levels of anti-Hsp70 and anti-Hsp60 seemed correlated, and the level of anti-Hsp70 better predicted the level of anti-Hsp60. An elevated plasma level of anti-Hsp70 was associated with a nonsignificantly increased risk of high-frequency NIHL (adjusted OR = 1.45; 95% CI = 0.89-2.36) and an elevated plasma level of anti-Hsp60 was associated with a nonsignificantly increased risk of the low-frequency NIHL (adjusted OR = 2.25; 95% CI = 0.85-5.96). These results suggest that the production of anti-Hsp60 and anti-Hsp70 may play a role in the pathogenesis of NIHL, and that anti-Hsps may be a risk factor. The precise mechanisms for the elevation of antibodies against Hsps caused by noise exposure and their possible role in the development of NIHL warrant further investigations.

Adult↗

P53 codon 72 polymorphism and risk of gastric cancer in a Chinese population.

The p53 gene plays an important role in cell cycle control in response to DNA damage, which may increase the probability of mutations that lead to carcinogenesis. The p53 codon 72 Arg right curved arrow Pro polymorphism has been suggested to be associated with risk for different kind of cancers, but the data on gastric cancer (GC) is very limited. To evaluate the association between this polymorphism and risk of GC, we performed genotype analysis by using a polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism assay in a population-based case-control study of 324 GC patients and 317 cancer-free controls in a Chinese population. The controls were frequency-matched to the cases by age, sex and smoking status. The frequency of the p53 Arg allele was 57.4% in the cases and 54.9% in the controls, and the genotype frequencies of p53 Arg/Arg, Arg/Pro, and Pro/Pro were 29.6%, 55.6%, and 14.8%, respectively, in the cases, and 29.6%, 50.5%, and 19.9%, respectively, in the controls (p=0.207). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the p53 Arg allele (Arg/Pro and Arg/Arg genotype) was associated with a borderline significantly increased risk of gastric cancer (adjusted OR=1.44, 95% CI=0.95-2.18), particularly non-cardia gastric cancer (adjusted OR=1.67, 95% CI=1.00-2.77), compared with p53 homozygous Pro allele (Pro/Pro genotype), and the risk was significantly more evident among alcohol drinkers (adjusted OR=2.85, 95% CI=1.37-5.95). While the results suggest that the p53 codon 72 polymorphism may contribute to gastric cancer susceptibility, further larger studies are needed to substantiate our findings and to explore a possible interaction between p53 codon 72 polymorphism and alcohol in the etiology of gastric cancer.

Adult↗

Smoking, DNA repair capacity and risk of nonsmall cell lung cancer.

Tobacco-related carcinogens cause a variety of DNA damage that is repaired by different enzymatic pathways, suggesting that DNA repair plays an important role in tobacco-induced carcinogenesis. In a large hospital-based case-control study, we investigated DNA repair capacity (DRC) as a biomarker for susceptibility to nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and evaluated the possible interaction between DRC and tobacco smoke in 467 newly diagnosed NSCLC patients and 488 cancer-free controls. We measured DRC in cultured peripheral lymphocytes using the host-cell reactivation assay with a reporter gene damaged by an activated tobacco carcinogen, benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide. The results showed that current smokers exhibited the highest DRCs as compared to former and nonsmokers both among patients and control subjects. There were no differences of DRC among 3 different histopathologic types of NSCLC. Logistic regression analysis revealed that suboptimal DRC and pack-years smoked were independent predictors of NSCLC risk. The overall 15.5% reduction in DRC observed in the cases (7.84%) compared to the controls (9.28%) (p<0.001) was associated with an approximately 2-fold increased risk of NSCLC (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.42-2.42). There was a significant dose-response association between decreased DRC and increased risk of lung cancer. Furthermore, we observed a nonstatistically significant additive but not multiplicative interaction between DRC and pack-years smoked on lung cancer risk, particularly in the histopathologic types of NSCLC other than adenocarcinoma. The results suggest that suboptimal DRC is associated with increased risk of NSCLC and DRC may modulate the risk of lung cancer associated with smoking but the latter needs to be verified in larger studies.

Adult↗