ArticleCancer causes & control : CCC2012
Plasma folate, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), and colorectal cancer risk in three large nested case-control studies.
Article in Cancer causes & control : CCC, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta Analysis of Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism and its association with folate and colorectal cancer.BMC cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Unveiling the link: Evaluating MTHFR gene polymorphisms and colorectal cancer risk through meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism and colorectal cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis.Bioscience reports · 2017Pooled it
- Positive association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and oral cancer risk: a meta-analysis.Tumour biology : the journal of the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine · 2014Pooled it
- Quantitative assessment of the association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and colorectal cancer risk in East Asians.Tumour biology : the journal of the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine · 2012Pooled it
- Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in Cancer Survivors: Current Evidence, Risk Prediction, Prevention, and Management.Journal of lipid and atherosclerosis · 2025Review
- Scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for folate.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2023Article
- Deacetylation of MTHFD2 by SIRT4 senses stress signal to inhibit cancer cell growth by remodeling folate metabolism.Journal of molecular cell biology · 2022Article
- Article
- Plasma B-vitamins and one-carbon metabolites and the risk of breast cancer in younger women.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2019Article
- One-carbon metabolite ratios as functional B-vitamin markers and in relation to colorectal cancer risk.International journal of cancer · 2019Article
- Serologic Response to Helicobacter pylori Proteins Associated With Risk of Colorectal Cancer Among Diverse Populations in the United States.Gastroenterology · 2019Article
- Antibody Responses toCancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2018Article
- Gene polymorphisms in the folate metabolic pathway and risk of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a case-control study in a Chinese population.International journal of clinical and experimental pathology · 2018Article
- Circulating folate levels and colorectal adenoma: a case-control study and a meta-analysis.Nutrition research and practice · 2017Article
- Observational
- Red blood cell folate and plasma folate are not associated with risk of incident colorectal cancer in the Women's Health Initiative observational study.International journal of cancer · 2015Observational
- Gene-diet interactions and their impact on colorectal cancer risk.Current nutrition reports · 2015Article
- Relationship of MTHFR gene polymorphisms with renal and cardiac disease.World journal of nephrology · 2015Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Few prospective studies have examined the associations between blood levels of folate, in conjunction with methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphisms, and colorectal cancer. We evaluated the associations between plasma folate, MTHFR C677T, and A1298C, and colorectal cancer in three large prospective studies: the Nurses' Health Study, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and the Physicians' Health Study. A total of 602 incident cases were identified and individually matched to controls who provided blood specimens. We used conditional logistic regression to calculate the relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) and then pooled the estimates using a random effects model. We found a lower risk of colorectal cancer among participants with low plasma folate levels: compared with the lowest quartile, RRs (95% CIs) for each successively higher quartile of plasma folate levels were 1.55 (1.14-2.11), 1.37 (1.00-1.88), and 1.47 (1.07-2.01; P for trend = 0.10). For the MTHFR polymorphisms, RRs (95% CIs) were 0.62 (0.44-0.90) for 677TT versus CC/CT and 0.68 (0.31-1.51) for 1298CC versus AC/AA, and these lower-risk genotypes were associated with lower circulating plasma folate levels. When we partitioned the variation in plasma folate levels, variation due to folate intake was not positively associated with colorectal cancer risk. We found that low plasma folate levels were associated with lower risk of colorectal cancer. The reasons underlying a lower risk of colorectal cancer with low plasma folate levels require elucidation because plasma folate levels can reflect dietary intake, genetic influences, and other factors.
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