Impact of one-carbon metabolism-related gene polymorphisms on risk of lung cancer in Japan: a case-control study

There is substantial evidence that the decreased risk of lung cancer with high intake of vegetables and fruits is linked to folate as a specific nutrient. Functional polymorphisms in genes encoding one-carbon metabolism enzymes, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR C677T and A1298C, methionine synthase (MTR A2756G), methionine synthase reductase (MTRR A66G) and thymidylate synthase, influence folate metabolism and thus might be suspected of impacting on lung cancer risk. We therefore conducted a case-control study with 515 lung cancer cases newly and histologically diagnosed and 1030 age- and sex-matched non-cancer controls to clarify associations with these five polymorphisms according to lung cancer subtype. Gene-environment interactions with smoking and drinking habit and folate consumption were also evaluated by logistic regression analysis. None of the polymorphisms showed any significant impact on lung cancer overall risk by genotype alone, but on histology-based analysis increase in MTHFR 677T and 1298C alleles was associated with reduced risk of squamous/small cell carcinoma (P = 0.029), especially among heavy smokers (P = 0.035), whereas the MTHFR 677TT genotype was linked to decreased risk for these subtypes among heavy drinkers (odds ratio = 0.17, 95% confidence interval: 0.03-0.98). In addition, we found interactions between the MTRR A66G polymorphism and smoking (P = 0.015) and the MTHFR A1298C polymorphism and alcohol consumption (P = 0.025) for risk of lung cancer overall. In conclusion, the results suggest that MTHFR polymorphisms contribute to risk of squamous/small cell carcinomas of the lung, along with possible interactions among folate metabolism-related polymorphisms and smoking/drinking habits. Further evaluation is warranted.