The methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677t polymorphism influences risk of esophageal cancer in chinese

Abstract

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) plays a central role in folate metabolism. This study with 381 esophageal cancer patients and 432 healthy controls was conducted to examine the association of MTHFR C677T and A1298C polymorphisms with susceptibility to esophageal cancer (EC) in a Chinese population. Compared with the CCgenotype of MTHFR C677T, subjects carrying homozygote TT and variant genotypes (CT+TT) demonstrated reduced riskof EC with adjusted ORs (95% CI) of 0.44 (0.28-0.71) and 0.57 (0.37-0.88), respectively. However, no associationwas found between the MTHFR A1298C polymorphism and the risk of EC. Comparing to haplotype CA, haplotypes TA andTC could reduce the susceptibility to EC with adjusted ORs (95% CI) of 0.61(0.47-0.79) and 0.06 (0.01-0.43), respectively. In conclusion, the present study suggested that the MTHFR C677T polymorphism can markedly influence the risk of EC in Chinese.