Polymorphisms in nucleotide excision repair genes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonDNA adducts, and breast cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol

Genes involved in the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway, which removes bulky DNA adducts, are potential low-penetrance cancer susceptibility genes. We recently reported an association between detectable polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-DNA adducts and breast cancer risk. Using a population-based breast cancer case-control study on Long Island, New York, we examined whether polymorphisms in NER genes modified the association between PAH-DNA adducts and breast cancer risk. We examined polymorphisms in ERCC1 (3¶-untranslated region 8092C/A), XPA (5¶-untranslated region 4G/A), XPD (Asp312Asn in exo