Genetic polymorphism of MTHFR C677T contributes to the risk of ovarian cancer: a meta-analysis

The goal of this study was to evaluate the association between genetic polymorphism of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) in exon 4 codon 677 (C/T) and the susceptibility to ovarian cancer. A comprehensive review and a meta-analysis of 12 studies involving 7876 controls and 5057 cases was performed to evaluate the association between ovarian cancer risk and genetic polymorphism of MTHFR C677T. Use the odds ratio (OR) the degree of possible correlation with the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was determined. Overall, in all genetic models, our study showed that MTHFR C677T polymorphism didn't contribute to the risk of ovarian cancer. Results of subgroup analysis based on ethnicity showed no significant association between genetic polymorphism of MTHFR C677T and ovarian cancer risk in the Caucasian group, while MTHFR C677T polymorphism in the Asian group, as a risk factor, contributes to a significantly increased risk of ovarian cancer. No publication bias was found in our study. This meta-analysis included all eligible studies showing that MTHFR C677T polymorphism conferred an increased risk to ovarian cancer in Asians although there was no association observed in Caucasian group or a pooled group of both.