The joint effect of hOGG1 single nucleotide polymorphism and betel quid chewing on oral cancer in Taiwan

Aim: To evaluate the association and interaction among hOGGl genotypic polymorphism, betel quid chewing status and oral cancer risk in Taiwan. Materials and Methods: The well-known polymorphic variants of hOGG1, codon 326, were analyzed in association with oral cancer susceptibility, and discussed regarding its joint effect with individual habits on oral cancer susceptibility. In total, 620 patients with oral cancer and 620 healthy controls recruited from the China Medical Hospital were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Results: The hOGG1 codon 326 genotypes were differently distributed between the oral cancer and control groups (p=0.0266) and the C allele of hOGGl codon 326 was significantly (p=0.0046) more frequently found in cancer patients than in controls. We further analyzed the joint effects of gene variants and habits on oral cancer risk and found an interaction between hOGG1 codon 326 genotype and betel quid chewing status. The association of the C allele for hOGG1 codon 326 with oral cancer risk was found to be significant only in the betel quid chewer group (p=0.0149), not in the non-chewer group (p=0.8028). Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that the C allele of hOGG1 codon 326 may have a joint effect with betel quid chewing on the development of oral cancer.