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Quantitative assessment of the association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and colorectal cancer risk in East Asians

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

A great number of studies regarding the association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) in East Asians were published, but the results were inconsistent. Thus, a meta-analysis was performed to investigate the association. PubMed, Embase, and CBM databases were searched for eligible publications. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CIs) were calculated using random or fixed effect models. Finally, 24 case–control studies with a total of 7,230 CRC cases and 9,285 controls were included. Meta-analyses of a total of 24 studies showed there was a statistically significant association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and decreased CRC risk in East Asians under four genetic models (T versus C, OR = 0.92, 95 % CI 0.85–0.99; TT versus CC, OR = 0.80, 95 % CI 0.69–0.94; TT versus CT/CC, OR = 0.82, 95 % CI 0.71–0.95; TT/CT versus CC, OR = 0.92, 95 % CI 0.86–0.98). The cumulative meta-analyses for the allele contrast (T versus C), homozygote (TT versus CC), dominant (TT/CT versus CC), and recessive (TT versus CT/CC) models all showed a trend of more obvious association as information accumulated by year. Subgroup analyses by country further identified this association in Korea and Japan. This meta-analysis suggests that MTHFR C677T polymorphism is associated with decreased risk of colorectal cancer in East Asians, and MTHFR 677T variant has a protective effect on colorectal cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biomedicine and School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Shan Zhong & Zhi-Jie Chang

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, 200433, People’s Republic of China

    Shan Zhong & B. H. Jiao

  3. Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, 200438, People’s Republic of China

    Jia-He Yang & Kai Liu

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  1. Shan Zhong
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  2. Jia-He Yang
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  3. Kai Liu
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  4. B. H. Jiao
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Correspondence to B. H. Jiao.

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Zhong Shan and Jia-He Yang contributed equally to this work.

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Zhong, S., Yang, JH., Liu, K. et al. Quantitative assessment of the association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and colorectal cancer risk in East Asians. Tumor Biol. 33, 2041–2051 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-012-0463-7

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