Intraindividual somatic variations in MTHFR gene polymorphisms in relation to colon cancer

Aim:MTHFR mediates the one carbon metabolism pathway. Two common genetic variants, C677T and A1298C, of MTHFR are associated with number of human diseases, including cancer, as well as being involved in the modulation of therapy outcome to antifolate drugs. To understand the distribution pattern of SNPs among different tissues of an individual, we examined MTHFR polymorphisms in normal and colon cancer tissues and compared the genotype frequencies in peripheral blood samples. Materials & methods: DNA was isolated from tumor tissue and matched normal tissues from 155 colon cancer patients. These samples as well as DNA from blood samples of the control group (n = 294) were analyzed for MTHFR polymorphisms by PCR-RFLP and confirmed by a direct DNA sequencing method. Results: Our data suggest that the allele and genotype frequencies of C677T and A1298C were significantly different between tumor tissues and both types of normal tissues. We have established that MTHFR variants that exist in tumor and matched no...