Folate may not impact breast-cancer risk

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Folate is known to prevent a birth defect but may have no clear relationship to breast-cancer risk, a Swedish review found.

Susanna C. Larsson of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and colleagues performed a meta-analysis of nine prospective studies and 14 case-control studies of folate intake and risk of breast cancer.

Overall, there was no association between total folate intake or blood folate levels with breast-cancer risk. However, the researchers did find an association between dietary folate intake and reduced breast-cancer risk among the case-control studies that suggest that high folate intake might be associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer in women with moderate or high consumption of alcohol.

"There was evidence from prospective studies that adequate folate intake may attenuate the increased risk of breast cancer associated with alcohol consumption," the authors write in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

"Large prospective studies that investigate interactions between folate and other nutrients involved in one-carbon metabolism, alcohol consumption and functional polymorphisms in genes encoding folate-metabolizing enzymes are needed to further clarify the role of folate in breast cancer etiology."