LMP2/LMP7 gene (LMP, low molecular mass protein) perform a critical role in the foreign antigen processing via the major histocompatibility complex-I (MHC-I) complex CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) pathway. This study was designed to investigate whether the sequence variants in LMP2/LMP7 gene would increase the risk of ovarian cancer in the Chinese population. Total of 235 patients with ovarian cancer and 338 normal controls were recruited. Two polymorphisms of LMP2-60 (Arg -> His) and LMP7-145 (Gin -> Lys) were identified by PCR-RFLP (RFLP, restriction fragment length polymorphism) method. The association of LMP2/LMP7 gene variations with ovarian cancer was assessed by logistic regression analysis. The results revealed that LMP7-145 Gln/Lys and Lys/Lys alleles were associated with the risk of ovarian cancer (P = 0.002, OR = 2.47; P < 0.001, OR = 3.23). Meanwhile, the relationship between the LMP7-145 polymorphism and the lymph node metastasis and tumor distant metastasis were also found. No statistical correlation between any of the LMP2-60 polymorphic genotypes and the ovarian cancer clinicopathological characteristics were observed (P > 0.05). These results suggested that LMP7 genetic variant could increase the susceptibility to ovarian cancer development; especially increase the risk of lymph node and tumor distant metastasis. (C) 2013 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.