Effects of folic acid supplementation on overall and site-specific cancer incidence during randomised trials: meta-analyses of data on 50,000 individuals

Source: Lancet Area: News Some countries fortify flour with folic acid to prevent neural tube defects but others do not, partly because of concerns about possible cancer risks. In The Lancet, researchers present new data that contribute to the debate regarding folic acid and cancer. They conducted a meta-analysis to assess any effects on site-specific cancer rates in the randomised trials of folic acid supplementation, at doses higher than those for fortification.   A search was conducted for trials completed before 2011 that compared folic acid with placebo, had scheduled treatment duration at least 1 year, included at least 500 participants, and recorded data on cancer incidence. Individual participant datasets that included 49,621 participants in all 13 such trials (10 trials folic acid for prevention of cardiovascular disease [n=46,969] and three trials in patients with colorectal adenoma [n=2652]) were obtained. The main outcome was incident cancer (ignoring non-melanoma skin cancer) during ...
Source: NeLM - News - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news