Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between the POLE1 SNPs and lung cancer susceptibility. METHODS: The genotypes and allele frequencies of 5 SNPs(rs5745047， rs5744962， rs5744873，rs5744738，rs4883545) of POLE1 gene were calculated and analyzed in 462 histologically confirmed lung cancer cases and 466 cancer-free controls in a Chinese Han population. RESULTS: People with rs5744738 A/A genotype had a decreased lung cancer risk of 0.47 times (95％CI：0.25－0.91), 0.28 times in the age group of over 60 (95％CI：0.09－0.91), and 0.42 times in non-family cancer history group (95％CI:0.19－0.90). The joint effect analysis showed that G/G or G/A carriers had a significant rise in lung cancer risk with increasing smoking. The rs5744962 C allele non-smoking carriers had an 1.75 folds lung cancer risk (95％CI: 1.02－3.00). CONCLUSION: The population with homologous mutations of rs5744738, rs4883545 and rs5744873 showed significant decline in lung cancer risk, while the non-smoking carriers of rs5744962 and rs5745047 mutation allele had an increased lung cancer risk.

Key words: lung cancer, association study, single nucleotide polymorphisms, susceptibility, POLE1