These findings suggest that genetic variation in XPG/ERCC5 may not affect the risk of SCCHN, although rs4150351 C variant genotypes were associated with an increased expression of XPG/ERCC5 mRNA and nonsignificantly decreased risk of SCCHN.
Multivariate logistic regression showed that only an intronic tagging SNP (rs4150351A/C) of XPG/ERCC5 was associated with a decreased risk of SCCHN (adjusted odds ratio=0.76, 95% confidence interval=0.62-0.92 for AC vs. AA; adjusted odds ratio=0.81, 95% confidence interval=0.67-0.98 for AC/CC vs. AA), but this association was nonsignificant after corrections by the permutation test (empirical P=0.105).