SynthesisCancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology2010
Circulating folate, vitamin B12, homocysteine, vitamin B12 transport proteins, and risk of prostate cancer: a case-control study, systematic review, and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 158 citations in OpenAlex.
- Folate and global health umbrella review series, part 2: syntheses on cancers.Journal of global health · 2026Pooled it
- Advances in highly active one-carbon metabolism in cancer diagnosis, treatment and drug resistance: A systematic review.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Components of one-carbon metabolism and renal cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of nutrition · 2020Pooled it
- Association Between Folate and Health Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses.Frontiers in public health · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Folate intake and the risk of prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Prostate cancer and prostatic diseases · 2014Pooled it
- Folate intake and the risk of breast cancer: a dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.PloS one · 2014Pooled it
- Active monitoring, radical prostatectomy and radical radiotherapy in PSA-detected clinically localised prostate cancer: the ProtecT three-arm RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2020Trial
- Folic acid supplementation and risk of colorectal neoplasia during long-term follow-up of a randomized clinical trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2019Trial
- Biochemical and genetic predictors and correlates of response to lamotrigine and folic acid in bipolar depression: Analysis of the CEQUEL clinical trial.Bipolar disorders · 2017Trial
- Diagnostic challenge of high vitamin B12 levels: a case report and review of the literature.Journal of medical case reports · 2026Review
- Article
- Vitamins in the Pathogenesis of Prostate Cancer: Implications for Prevention and Therapeutic Support.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Recent Advances on the Role of B Vitamins in Cancer Prevention and Progression.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Association between vitamin intake and prostate cancer: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- The Pivotal Role of One-Carbon Metabolism in Neoplastic Progression During the Aging Process.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Transcriptome-wide association analysis identifies candidate susceptibility genes for prostate-specific antigen levels in men without prostate cancer.HGG advances · 2024Article
- MTHFR genetic testing: is there a clinical utility?Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2024Article
- Evaluation of Serum Vitamin B12 Levels in Patients with Colon and Breast Cancer: A Case-Control Study.International journal of hematology-oncology and stem cell research · 2023Article
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
23 authors at 9 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDisturbed folate metabolism is associated with an increased risk of some cancers. Our objective was to determine whether blood levels of folate, vitamin B(12), and related metabolites were associated with prostate cancer risk.
methodsMatched case-control study nested within the U.K. population-based Prostate testing for cancer and Treatment (ProtecT) study of prostate-specific antigen-detected prostate cancer in men ages 50 to 69 years. Plasma concentrations of folate, B(12) (cobalamin), holo-haptocorrin, holo-transcobalamin total transcobalamin, and total homocysteine (tHcy) were measured in 1,461 cases and 1,507 controls. ProtecT study estimates for associations of folate, B(12), and tHcy with prostate cancer risk were included in a meta-analysis, based on a systematic review.
resultsIn the ProtecT study, increased B(12) and holo-haptocorrin concentrations showed positive associations with prostate cancer risk [highest versus lowest quartile of B(12) odds ratio (OR) = 1.17 (95% confidence interval, 0.95-1.43); P(trend) = 0.06; highest versus lowest quartile of holo-haptocorrin OR = 1.27 (1.04-1.56); P(trend) = 0.01]; folate, holo-transcobalamin, and tHcy were not associated with prostate cancer risk. In the meta-analysis, circulating B(12) levels were associated with an increased prostate cancer risk [pooled OR = 1.10 (1.01-1.19) per 100 pmol/L increase in B(12); P = 0.002]; the pooled OR for the association of folate with prostate cancer was positive [OR = 1.11 (0.96-1.28) per 10 nmol/L; P = 0.2) and conventionally statistically significant if ProtecT (the only case-control study) was excluded [OR = 1.18 (1.00-1.40) per 10 nmol/L; P = 0.02].
conclusionVitamin B(12) and (in cohort studies) folate were associated with increased prostate cancer risk. IMPACT: Given current controversies over mandatory fortification, further research is needed to determine whether these are causal associations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.