Background: 5,10-Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphisms implicated in the cancer development, but the published studies had yielded inconsistent results.
Methods: Pubmed was searched for all published case-control studies about MTHFR polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk.
Results: In all, 13 studies including 5872 cases and 6255 controls described C677T genotypes, among which 9 articles, containing 2847 cases and 3657 controls described A1298C genotypes, were involved in our meta-analysis. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated to assess the association between MTHFR polymorphisms and prostate cancer risk, heterogeneity, publication bias and sensitivity were also calculated. Overall, meta-analysis indicated that the 677T allele was more likely to exert protective effect on prostate cancer risk (random-effects pooled OR, 0.78 (0.64-0.96); P=0.016 (P=0.033 for heterogeneity studies)) in a recessive genetic model, no associations were found in other genetic models or in comparing a/a versus A/A homozygous. Neither did we find any difference in effects on high or low aggressive prostate cancer. No evidence of an association of MTHFR A1298C polymorphism with prostate cancer was found.
Conclusions: C677T of the MTHFR gene may provide protective effects on susceptibility to prostate cancer risk.