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Meta-Analysis
. 2015 Jul 1:5:12044.
doi: 10.1038/srep12044.

Folic acid supplements and colorectal cancer risk: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Tingting Qin  1 , Mulong Du  2 , Haina Du  1 , Yongqian Shu  1 , Meilin Wang  2 , Lingjun Zhu  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Folic acid supplements and colorectal cancer risk: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Tingting Qin et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Numerous studies have investigated the effects of folic acid supplementation on colorectal cancer risk, but conflicting results were reported. We herein performed a meta-analysis based on relevant studies to reach a more definitive conclusion. The PubMed and Embase databases were searched for quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published before October 2014. Eight articles met the inclusion criteria and were subsequently analyzed. The results suggested that folic acid treatment was not associated with colorectal cancer risk in the total population (relative risk [RR] = 1.00, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.82-1.22, P = 0.974). Moreover, no statistical effect was identified in further subgroup analyses stratified by ethnicity, gender, body mass index (BMI) and potential confounding factors. No significant heterogeneity or publication bias was observed. In conclusion, our meta-analysis demonstrated that folic acid supplementation had no effect on colorectal cancer risk. However, this finding must be validated by further large studies.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. A flow chart of the study identification and selection.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Forest plot of the association between colorectal cancer risk and folic acid supplementation.
The squares and horizontal lines correspond to the study-specific RR and 95% CI, respectively. The areas of the squares reflect the weight. The diamond represents the summary RR and 95% CI.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Begg’s funnel plot for the publication bias test.
Each point represents a separate study for the indicated association.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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