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Folate status among patients with non‐small cell lung cancer: A case‐control study *
Author(s) -
Jatoi Aminah,
Daly Benedict D.T.,
Kramer Gertrude,
Mason Joel B.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.201
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1096-9098
pISSN - 0022-4790
DOI - 10.1002/jso.1104
Subject(s) - medicine , methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase , lung cancer , gastroenterology , case control study , homocysteine , creatinine , cancer , genotype , biochemistry , biology , gene
Background and Objectives This case control study explored the purported inverse relationship between folate status and lung cancer development. Methods Folate status of 46 postoperative non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients was compared to that of 44 non‐cancer patients. Cancer patients had completed treatment > 3 months prior and had no evidence of cancer. Ineligibility criteria for all patients included (1) > 2 alcoholic drinks/day (2) ongoing tobacco use, or (3) folate supplementation > 400 μg/day. Results No differences were found between groups in serum and RBC folate after adjustment for age and use of folate‐interfering medications: geometric means (GM) × /geometric standard error (GSE): 7.9 ng/ml × /1.1 vs. 7.8 ng/ml × /1.1, respectively ( P = 0.91) for serum folate; 264 ng/ml × /1.1 vs. 263 ng/ml × /1.1, respectively ( P = 0.97) for RBC folate. Age‐ and creatinine‐adjusted homocysteine was no different between groups: GM × /GSE: 9.4 μmol/L × /1.0 vs. 8.6 μmol/L × /1.0, respectively ( P = 0.17). No difference were seen in folate intake. Frequencies of the homozygous genotype for the MTHFR polymorphism, an enzyme important in folate metabolism and associated with a reduced risk of other cancers, were no different. Conclusions This case control study does not support the hypothesis that low folate is an independent risk factor for NSCLC. J. Surg. Oncol. 2001;77:247–252. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.