Distribution of nucleotide variants in the DNA sequence of ERCC1 and XRCC1 genes and the effect of phenotype in patients with gastric cancer

Upregulation of XRCC1 DNA Repair Gene, Interleukin-8, and Bcl-2 Antiapoptotic Gene Levels in Kurdish Patients with Gastric Adenocarcinoma

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the deadliest tumors due to its competence to invade and metastasize. The DNA repair gene (XRCC1), interleukin-8 (IL-8) gene, and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) gene play a crucial role in the development and progression of GC. This study aimed to evaluate the expression of these target genes in GC patients in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Gastric cancer tissues were collected from 29 patients diagnosed with gastric adenocarcinoma that underwent gastric resection, and 21 tissue samples were obtained from healthy patients that underwent gastroscopy. The gastric tissues were collected in different hospitals in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah cities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Moreover, the data regarding Helicobacter pylori, age, gender, and stage of the disease were recorded and analyzed using GraphPad Prism. The gene expression levels of XRCC1, IL-8, and Bcl-2 from gastric tissue were studied by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results showed that H. pylori infection was equally distributed among males and females in the tissues of gastric patients, while most of the H. pylori-negative patients were females. It is also found that gastric patients aged 30-60 years old are more commonly tested for the H. pylori test. Accordingly, in this study, patients diagnosed with gastric inflammation more often tested positive for H. pylori, while patients diagnosed with gastric cancer tested negative for this infection. Additionally, it was found that the target genes (XRCC1, IL-8, and Bcl-2) were significantly upregulated in GC patients, compared to the healthy group. Finally, the result revealed that XRCC1, IL-8, and Bcl-2 were upregulated in the Kurdish patients with GC, compared to the healthy control group. Targeting XRCC1, IL-8, and Bcl-2 genes can be an interesting field and promising strategy for cancer treatment.

Association of ERCC1 rs11615 Polymorphism with the Risk of Cervical Cancer Especially in Chinese Populations: A Meta-Analysis

Abnormalities of the ERCC1 gene can affect DNA repair pathways, thereby having a vital effect on genomic stability. A growing amount of case-control studies have focused on making an investigation of the association between ERCC1 rs11615 polymorphism and cervical cancer susceptibility. However, the controversial results have raised concerns. To draw a more accurate conclusion, six studies were elaborately selected from the electronic databases for this meta-analysis, with 753 cervical cancer cases and 851 healthy controls. We applied pooled ORs combined with 95% CIs to test the potential associations. Significant associations were revealed in Chinese populations (T vs C: $\text{OR}=1.557$ and $95\%\text{CI}=1.234–1.966$ ; TT vs CC: $\text{OR}=3.175$ and $95\%\text{CI}=1.754–5.748$ ; TT/CT vs CC: $\text{OR}=1.512$ and $95\%\text{CI}=1.126–\mathrm{2,031}$ ; and TT vs CT/CC: $\text{OR}=2.836$ and $95\%\text{CI}=1.592–5.051$ ). Even when the studies deviating from HWE were excluded, an increased cervical cancer susceptibility was observed in Chinese. These results disclose that there is an obvious correlation between the risk of cervical cancer and ERCC1 rs11615 polymorphism, especially in Chinese populations, and the T variant is the risky one. Also, our findings need further studies to validate.