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A prospective study of one-carbon metabolism biomarkers and risk of renal cell carcinoma

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Abstract

Objective

Previous studies have found associations between one-carbon metabolism factors and risk of several cancers, but little is known regarding renal cell carcinoma (RCC). We conducted a nested case–control study within the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study, a prospective study of Finnish male smokers aged 50–69 at baseline.

Methods

Prediagnostic folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, cysteine, riboflavin, and homocysteine concentrations were measured in fasting serum from 224 incident RCC cases and 224 controls (matched on age and date of serum collection). Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusted for potential confounders.

Results

Serum folate tended to be inversely associated with RCC, compared to the first quartile, the odds ratios (95% CI) for subsequent quartiles were 0.62 (0.35–1.08), 0.52 (0.29–0.93), and 0.67 (0.37–1.20) (P-trend = 0.19). When modeled as a threshold effect, subjects in the lowest serum folate quartile (≤6.64 nmol/l), which corresponds to deficient folate status, had a significant increased RCC risk (OR = 1.68, 95% CI 1.06–2.65) compared to those with higher serum folate. The other one-carbon metabolism biomarkers were not associated with RCC.

Conclusions

This study in male smokers suggests that deficient folate status may increase risk of RCC, but confirmation is needed in other epidemiologic studies that include women and non-smokers.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH and the National Cancer Institute and by grant TU2-CA-105666. Additionally, this research was supported by Public Health Service contracts N01-CN-45165, N01-RC-45035, and N01-RC-37004 from the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale School of Public Health, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA

    Todd M. Gibson & Susan T. Mayne

  2. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 6120 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, MD, 20852, USA

    Todd M. Gibson, Stephanie J. Weinstein, Ruth M. Pfeiffer, Philip R. Taylor, Demetrius Albanes & Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon

  3. Jean Mayer U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA

    Jacob Selhub

  4. Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland

    Jarmo Virtamo

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  1. Todd M. Gibson
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Correspondence to Todd M. Gibson.

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Gibson, T.M., Weinstein, S.J., Mayne, S.T. et al. A prospective study of one-carbon metabolism biomarkers and risk of renal cell carcinoma. Cancer Causes Control 21, 1061–1069 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9534-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9534-5

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