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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

Mass Cytometry Analysis of Systemic and Local Immune Responses in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Published on: April 25, 2025
Correlation between Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase Polymorphisms and Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Meta-Analysis
1Department of Pediatrics, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Qingdao University, Yantai, China.
Background:
The correlation between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphisms and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains controversial.
Objectives:
We performed this study to better assess the relationship between MTHFR gene polymorphisms and the likelihood of HCC.
Methods:
A systematic research of PubMed, Medline, and Embase was performed to retrieve relevant articles. ORs and 95% CIs were calculated.
Results:
A total of 15 studies with 8,378 participants were analyzed. In overall analyses, a significant association with the likelihood of HCC was detected for the rs1801131 polymorphism with fixed-effect models (FEMs) in recessive comparison (p = 0.002, OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.43-0.82). However, no positive results were detected for the rs1801133 polymorphism in any comparison. Further subgroup analyses revealed that the rs1801131 polymorphism was significantly associated with the likelihood of HCC in Asians with both FEMs (recessive model: p < 0.0001, OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.29-0.62; allele model: p = 0.004, OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.06-1.35) and random-effect models (recessive model: p = 0.002, OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.29-0.75). Nevertheless, we failed to detect any significant correlation between the rs1801133 polymorphism and HCC.
Conclusions:
Our findings indicated that the rs1801131 polymorphism may serve as a genetic biomarker of HCC in Asians.
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