Table 1

Associations between folate status and risk of selected cancers

TYPE OF CANCER	ASSOCIATION OF FOLATE AND RISK
Breast	Meta-analysis shows decrease in cancer risk with high folate status Majority of case-control studies show reduction in risk (30% to 35%) at the highest dietary intake of folate Might increase risk postmenopausal (statistically non-significant) A non-significant trend for increase in breast cancer mortality when fortified with 5 mg/d
Colorectal	Inverse relationship between folate status and risk of colorectal cancer in healthy people Potential increased risk of adenoma
Pancreatic	Decreased risk with higher folate status
Ovarian	Statistically significant decrease in the serous subtype Prospective prevention (non-significant trend)
Bladder	Statistically significant lower folate in cancer subjects as compared with controls
Carcinoma of head and neck	Protective effect
Stomach	No effect
Esophageal and gastric	Protective effect in case-control studies
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	No correlation with folate status
Cervical	Folate fortification not associated with the degree or pattern of global DNA methylation in cells involved in cervical carcinogenesis