MTHFR 677CC/1298CC Genotypes Are Highly Associated with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia: A Case-Control Study in Korea.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an enzyme involved in folate metabolism and DNA methylation. Studies on MTHFR polymorphism in leukemia have largely focused on the protective role of MTHFR polymorphism in ALL. We evaluated the C677T and A1298C polymorphisms using the TaqMan® allelic discrimination assay in various malignancies. The study population included 115 subjects with CML, 200 with AML, 196 with MM and 434 healthy control subjects. The frequency of 1298 CC was statistically significantly higher in subjects with CML than that of the controls (OR = 5.12, 95% CI: 1.75–14.9, P value =.003). Of note, the frequencies of 677CC/1298CC genotype was statistically significantly higher in subjects with CML, AML and MM than that of the controls (OR = 8.8, 3.5, 3.83, P value =.002, 0.036, 0.023, respectively). Our results demonstrate that the MTHFR 1298CC homozygote variant is strongly associated with an increased risk of CML, while MTHFR C677T does not significantly affect the risk of CML. Moreover, we demonstrated that MTHFR 677CC and 1298CC genotype might have combined effect on risk of CML, AML and MM and it is inferred that the A1298C may play a different role in carcinogenesis, depending on the types of organs involved, the types of disease entities and the genotype of C677T.