title: Association between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism and risk of cancer: evidence from 446 case-control studies.
abstract: Many molecular epidemiological studies have been performed to explore the association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and cancer risk in diverse populations. However, the results were inconsistent. Hence, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the association between cancer risk and MTHFR C677T (150,086 cases and 200,699 controls from 446 studies) polymorphism. Overall, significantly increased cancer risk was found when all eligible studies were pooled into the meta-analysis. In the further stratified and sensitivity analyses, significantly increased breast cancer risk was found in Asians and Indians, significantly decreased colon cancer risk was found, significantly decreased colorectal cancer risk was found in male population, significantly increased gastric cancer risk was found in Caucasians and Asians, significantly increased hepatocellular cancer risk was found in Asians, significantly decreased adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (AALL) risk was found in Caucasians, significantly decreased childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (CALL) risk was found in Asians, and significantly increased multiple myeloma and NHL risk was found in Caucasians. In summary, this meta-analysis suggests that MTHFR C677T polymorphism is associated with increased breast cancer, gastric cancer, and hepatocellular cancer risk in Asians, is associated with increased gastric cancer, multiple myeloma, and NHL risk in Caucasians, is associated with decreased AALL risk in Caucasians, is associated with decreased CALL risk in Asians, is associated with increased breast cancer risk in Asians, is associated with decreased colon cancer risk, and is associated with decreased colorectal cancer risk in male population. Moreover, this meta-analysis also points out the importance of new studies, such as Asians of HNC, Asians of lung cancer, and Indians of breast cancer, because they had high heterogeneity in this meta-analysis (I(2) > 75%).
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Peace Hospital of Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, 046000, China. xieshuzhezl@163.com.
authors.forename: Shu-Zhe
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Second People's Hospital of Zhuhai, Zhuhai, 519000, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Zhong
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Ezhou Central Hospital of Hubei Province, Ezhou, Hubei, 436000, China.
authors.forename: Jun-hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Reproductive Medicine, First Center Hospital, Tianjin, 300192, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Second People's Hospital of Zhuhai, Zhuhai, 519000, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound Diagnosis, Peace Hospital of Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, 046000, China.
authors.forename: Dao-Lin
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat, Peace Hospital of Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, 046000, China.
authors.forename: Jiang-Bo
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Qin
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D042965:Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2) / Q000235:genetics*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: C573423:MTHFR protein, human; D042965:Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (NADPH2)
keywords: Cancer; MTHFR; Meta-analysis; Polymorphism