ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the association of the Thr241Met polymorphism of X-ray cross-complementing group 3 (XRCC3) gene with genetic susceptibility to aflatoxin B1(AFB-1)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)in Guangxi population.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We conducted a hospital-based case-control study, including 257 HCC cases and 711 controls without cancers or liver diseases. The XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism was analyzed by PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The XRCC3 genotypes XRCC3-Thr/Met or XRCC3-Met/Met were related with an elevated risk of HCC. The risk of HCC was associated with the number of mutant Met copies (adjusted OR were 2.20 and 8.56 for XRCC3-Thr/Met and Met/Met, respectively); moreover, there seemed to be combined effects for HCC risk between the variant genotypes and AFB1-DNA adduct levels from peripheral blood leukocytes (adjusted OR was 2.34 to 20.44, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>These results suggested that XRCC3 polymorphism may be associated with the risk of AFB1- related HCC among the Guangxi population, and interacts with AFB1 exposure in the development of HCC induced by AFB1.</p>