Polymorphisms of MTHFR and susceptibility to oesophageal adenocarcinoma in a Caucasian United Kingdom population

Table 1 Study group characteristics n (%)

	Cancer	Control	Significance
Male	36 (82)	38 (65)
Female	8 (18)	20 (35)
Age (yr)	69 ± 12	64 ± 12	P = 0.230
Folate level			P = 0.735
Normal	26 (84)	42 (82)
Low	0	8 (16)
High	5 (16)	1 (2)
Vitamin B12 level			P = 0.010
Normal	23 (72)	48 (89)	High vs normal + low
Low	1 (3)	4 (7)
High	8 (25)	2 (4)
Homocysteine level μmol/L	10.3 ± 4.4	12.0 ± 6.0	P = 0.959
MTHFR C677T			Total TT vs CT and CC
TT	5 (11)	4 (7)	P = 0.329
CT	20 (46)	27 (47)
CC	19 (43)	27 (47)
MTHFR C677T	Normal folate	Low folate	High folate
TT	3 (10)	0	0
CT	11 (36)	0	1 (3)
CC	12 (38)	0	4 (13)
Survival (mo)			P = 0.160
TT	7 ± 1.4		TT vs CT + CC
CT	17 ± 4.4
CC	21 ± 7.0

The characteristics of the cancer and control groups are displayed, patient numbers are shown and percentages or SD are indicated in brackets. The gender and average age of the study population at the time of study are shown. Mean levels of homocysteine are presented with standard deviations in brackets. Methylene tetra-hydrofolatereductase (MTHFR) C667T polymorphisms, TT, CT and CT were determined, the percentage in the cancer and control groups are displayed. Mean survival times in months and standard errors are displayed.