摘要Aim: Excision repair cross complementation group 1 (ERCC1) has a key role in enhanced DNA damage repair caused by oxaliplatin-based therapy and may lead to resistance of these platinum drugs in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Hence, the present preliminary study aimed to explore the role of ERCC1 C/T polymorphism at codon 118 as well as its immunoreactivity in patients with primary CRC.Methods: ERCC1 polymorphism was studied using PCR-RFLP and ERCC1 protein expression was examined by immunohistochemistry in 50 CRC patients.Results: ERCC1 codon 118 C/T polymorphism analysis reported the predominance of C/T (52%) genotype as compared to C/C (38%) and T/T (10%) genotypes. Furthermore, 72% of patients showed positive ERCC1 protein expression. Signiifcant correlation was not observed between clinicopathological parameters and ERCC1 polymorphism, while ERCC1 protein expression signiifcantly correlated only with tumor site (colonvs. rectum) (P = 0.046). Further, the present study failed to demonstrate the role of ERCC1 C118T polymorphism or protein expression as useful prognostic markers in CRC patients.Conclusion: ERCC1-positive protein expression may be a useful marker for rectal cancer patients. However, further evaluation in a larger set of CRC patients is required to better understand the role of ERCC1.