Association between MTHFR polymorphisms and overall survival of colorectal cancer patients in Northeast China

A follow-up study has been carried out to assess the association between MTHFR polymorphisms (SNPs) and overall survival (OS) of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Data on 411 CRC patients after surgery were tested for the MTHFR 677C > T and 1298A > C polymorphisms. For MTHFR C677T, patients with CT genotype (HR = 1.17; 95 % CI 0.77–1.80) and those with TT genotype (HR = 1.09; 95 % CI 0.67–1.75) had no statistically significant greater risk of dying than those with wild-type genotype. For MTHFR A1298C, the HRs of AC and CC genotype were 1.09 (95 % CI 0.75–1.59) and 0.79 (95 % CI 0.48–1.29) comparing with AA genotype. In the subgroup, 183 patients received chemotherapy treatment, and the HRs of patients with CT and TT genotype were 0.93 (95 % CI 0.50–1.72) and 0.86 (95 % CI 0.44–1.68) for MTHFR C677T. For A1298C polymorphism, AC genotype (HR = 1.39; 95 % CI 0.81–2.39) and CC genotype (HR = 1.22; 95 % CI 0.75–2.00) did not show significant differences. In conclusions, no significant association was observed between the 677C > T and 1298A > C polymorphisms of MTHFR and the prognosis of colorectal cancer patients with curative resection, including all the subjects and the subgroup of chemotherapy.