Table 2.
Characteristics of the study subjects and control cases at follow-up.
| Variables | Controls (n=58) |
Incident cancers (n=62) |
P-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| age (years) | 60.35±10.17 | 62.52±8.98 | N.S. |
| sex (% Males) | 80.5 | 87.0 | N.S.* |
| smoking habit (% smokers) | 65.9 | 72.7 | N.S.* |
| hs-CRP (mg/L) | 3.30 (2.87–3.80) |
6.15 (2.35–16.10) |
0.047 |
| tHcy (µmol/L) | 15.71 (13.84–17.84) |
14.47 (10.65–19.63) |
N.S. |
| vitamin B12 (pmol/L) | 413.55 (346.40–493.73) |
516.56 (228.86–1165.96) |
N.S. |
| folate (nmol/L) | 5.58 (4.85–6.44) |
6.08 (2.85–17.98) |
N.S. |
| % MTHFR677TT genotype carriers |
16.0 | 15.8 | N.S.* |
| DNA Methylation (% mCyt/mCyt + Cyt) |
5.07 (4.95–5.18) |
4.47 (3.92–5.12) |
0.001 |
Values are expressed as means ± SD for age. Plasma folate, hs-CRP, vitamin B12, tHcy and DNA methylation status are presented as geometric means (antilogaritms of transformed means) and 95% confidence intervals are reported in parentheses with two-tailed P values. Statistical difference was evaluated by Student’s t-test except when differently indicated.
*
Statistical difference was evaluated by χ2 test. N.S., not statistically significant.
tHcy: total plasma homocysteine; hs-CRP: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.