Association between X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 Arg194Trp polymorphism and prostate cancer risk

X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1) plays an important role in the maintenance of the genomic integrity. Previous studies on the association between XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism and prostate cancer risk reported conflicting results. To get a more precise assessment of the association between XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism and prostate cancer risk, we performed a meta-analysis of previously published studies. Eligible studies were searched in PubMed, Embase, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases. Nine studies with a total of 5,407 subjects were finally included into the meta-analysis. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was used to assess the association. Overall, there was no obvious association between XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism and prostate cancer risk (Trp vs. Arg: OR = 1.02, 95%CI 0.84-1.25, P = 0.824; TrpTrp vs. ArgArg: OR = 1.17, 95%CI 0.83-1.66, P = 0.374; TrpTrp/ArgTrp vs. ArgArg: OR = 1.00, 95%CI 0.79-1.28, P = 0.990; TrpTrp vs. ArgArg/ArgTrp: OR = 1.20, 95%CI 0.85-1.68, P = 0.301). Subgroup analysis according to ethnicity also detected no significant association in both Asians and Caucasians. In conclusion, the meta-analysis suggests that there is no obvious association between XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism and prostate cancer risk.