Jang et al (2014) studied survival rates of Colorectal Cancer (CRC) in a Korean population in relation to 3 genetic polymorphisms, of which MTHFR mutations C677T and A1298C were included. 372 CRC Korean patients (215 men and 157 women) were genotyped to examine genetic expression. Interestingly, the C677T mutation was the most common MTHFR genotype presentation by the patients in the study, showing predominance toward increased tumour size and advanced stages of cancer. These findings were not however defined as significant.
It could therefore be hypothesized that a MTHFR polymorphism could potentially have no impact on or decrease survival rates in CRC, via compounding the toxicity of anti-folate drugs commonly used (such as 5-Fluorouracil). This would instead negatively affect overall survival in patients, instead of aiding in overall survival as studied in this research.
