Polymorphisms in the nuclear excision repair gene ERCC2/XPD and susceptibility to cutaneous basal cell carcinoma

Studies have investigated the relationship between XPD Lys751Gln and Asp312Asn genetic variants and risk of cutaneous basal cell carcinoma (BCC). However, the results remain inconclusive. We performed a meta-analysis, using a comprehensive strategy based on the allele model and a model-free approach, to investigate the association of between XPD Lys751Gln and Asp312Asn polymorphisms with BCC risk. For XPD Lys751Gln, no significant BCC risk was found in the allele model (OR = 0.97, 95% CI 0.90-1.04, I (2) = 35.3%, P heterogeneity = 0.125) and with model-free approach (ORG = 0.95, 95% CI 0.87-1.04, I (2) = 15.9%, P heterogeneity = 0.296). For XPD Asp312Asn, there was also no association between this polymorphism and BCC risk in the allele model (OR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.86-1.03, I (2) = 0, P heterogeneity = 0.650) and with the model-free approach (ORG = 0.94, 95% CI 0.85-1.05, I (2) = 0, P heterogeneity = 0.603). Therefore, this meta-analysis suggests that the XPD Lys751Gln and Asp312Asn polymorphisms were not associated with BCC risk. Further large and well-designed studies are needed to confirm these findings.