The human OGG1 DNA repair enzyme and its association with orolaryngeal cancer risk.

The human OGG1 (hOGG1) gene encodes a DNA glycosylase that is involved in the excision repair of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanine (8-OH-dG) from oxidatively-damaged DNA. To determine whether hOGG1 plays a role in risk for orolaryngeal cancer, we screened normal orolaryngeal tissue specimens for hOGG1 expression and assessed the role of the hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism in risk for orolaryngeal cancer. hOGG1 expression was determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of total RNA from aerodigestive tract tissues, and hOGG1 genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of buccal cell DNA isolated from 169 Caucasian orolaryngeal cancer cases and 338 race-, sex- and age-matched controls.