Polymorphic variants of folate metabolism genes and the risk of laryngeal cancer

Carcinogenesis may result from abnormal methylation of cancer-related genes regulatory sequence. Though, the polymorphic variants of genes encoding enzymes of folate and methionine metabolism may have an effect on DNA methylation. Using PCR-RFLPs, we examined the polymorphism distribution of genes encoding methionine synthase (MTR); 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase, 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate cyclohydrolase and 10-formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase (MTHFD1); and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) in patients with larynx cancer (n = 131) and controls (n = 250). Patients with MTR 2756AG or GG genotypes displayed a 1.856 -fold increased risk of larynx cancer (95% CI = 1.1860-2.903, P = 0.0076). However, we did not observe an increased risk for the homozygous GG genotype OR = 1.960 (95% CI = 0.6722-5.713, P = 0.2535). Moreover, we did not observe statistical differences in distribution of MTHFR 677C > T, 1298A > C and MTHFD1 1958G > A allele and genotype frequencies in patients and controls. Our findings confirm the significance of the role of the methyl cycle in etiopathogenesis of laryngeal cancer.