The association between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism and cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is one of the common cancers in women. Several factors can lead to cervical cancer; among which, infection with human papilloma virus (HPV), abnormal epigenetic changes such as methylation of gene promoter, methylene tetrahydrofolatereductase (MTHFR) polymorphisms such as MTHFR C677T polymorphism are notable. MTHFR is an enzyme that plays a role in regulating the metabolism of folate and methionine. This study was aimed to illustrate the relationship between MTHFR gene C677T polymorphism and the risk of cervical cancer.
This study examined 100 cervical cancerous tissues in compare to 100 cytology samples of normal healthy women without HPV infection. The age status of both groups was between (20-45) years old. PCR-RFLP was used for MTHFR polymorphism detection.
The results showed a significant correlation between the CT and TT genotypes and reduced risk of cervical cancer. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium calculation showed that there was not any significant differences between observed and predicted genotypes; hence, the population of patients and the healthy participants for both loci were in balance.
There was an increased risk of cervical cancer in individuals with genotype CC. It is more likely that allele C to be a high-risk allele, increasing the risk of cancer. Allele T, probably acts as a protective allele, which reduces the risk of the disease (OR: 0.5, % 95 CI: 0.28 - 0.89, P = 0.028).