Several reports suggest that folate has a procarcinogenic effect. Folate has a unique role
because its coenzymes are needed for de novo purine and thymine nucleotide biosynthesis.
Antifolates, such as methotrexate, are used in cancer treatment. Using a meta-analysis
weighted for the duration of folic acid (pteroylglutamic acid) supplementation, we analyzed
the cancer incidence of six previously published large prospective folic acid-
supplementation trials in men and women. These articles were carefully selected from over …