No Association Between MTHFR A1298C Gene Polymorphism and Head and Neck Cancer Risk: A Meta-analysis Based on 9,952 Subjects

Objective: Findings for associations between the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) A1298C genepolymorphism and head and neck cancer risk have been conflicting. We therefore performed a meta-analysisto derive a more precise relationship.
Methods: Ten published case-control studies were collected and oddsratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the association between MTHFR A1298Cpolymorphism and head and neck cancer risk. Sensitivity analysis and publication bias assessment also wereperformed to guarantee the statistical power.
Results: Overall, no significant association between MTHFR A1298Cpolymorphism and head and neck cancer risk was found in this meta-analysis (C vs. A: OR=1.04, 95%CI=0.87-1.25, P=0.668, Pheterogeneity<0.001; CC vs. AA: OR=1.07, 95%CI=0.70-1.65, P=0.748, Pheterogeneity<0.001; ACvs. AA: OR=1.06, 95%CI=0.88-1.27, P=0.565, Pheterogeneity<0.001; CC+AC vs. AA: OR=1.06, 95%CI=0.86-1.30,P=0.571, Pheterogeneity<0.001; CC vs. AA+AC: OR=1.02, 95%CI=0.69-1.52, P=0.910, Pheterogeneity<0.001). Similarresults were also been found in succeeding analysis of HWE and stratified analysis of ethnicity.
Conclusions: Inconclusion, our meta-analysis demonstrates that MTHFR A1298C polymorphism may not be a risk factor fordeveloping head and neck cancer.