Little is known about the role of
folate and polymorphisms associated with
folate metabolism on
prostate cancer risk in populations of African origin. We examined the relationship between serum
folate and
prostate cancer and whether any association was modified by genetic polymorphisms for
folate metabolism. The study was case-control in design and consisted of 218 men 40-80 years old with newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed
prostate cancer and 236
cancer-free men attending the same urology clinics in Jamaica, March 2005-July 2007. Serum
folate was measured by an immunoassay method and genomic
DNA evaluated for MTHR (C677T and A1298C), MTRR A66G, and MTR A2756G polymorphisms. Mean serum
folate concentration was higher among cases (12.3 ± 4.1 nmol/L) than controls (9.7 ± 4.2 nmol/L). Serum
folate concentration showed a positive association with
prostate cancer (OR, 4.41; CI, 2.52-7.72 per 10 nmol/L) regardless of grade. No interactions were observed between genotype and
folate concentration, but a weak gene effect was observed for MTHFR A1298C and low-grade
prostate cancer. Larger studies to investigate the role of gene-gene/gene-diet interactions in Black men are needed.