The rs9939609 polymorphism in the FTO gene has recently been implicated as a risk factor for some types of cancer, such as breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancers.
Our meta-analysis indicated that there was no association between FTO rs9939609 polymorphism and the increased risk of c</span>ancer, although this polymorphism was marginally associated with pancreatic cancer.
Among 22,799 individuals (44-74 years) in the population-based Malmö diet and cancer cohort that were genotyped for rs9939609 in FTO and had information on dietary intake (from a modified diet history method) and no history of diabetes, cancer or cardiovascular disease, 2255 deaths (including 1100 cancer and 674 cardiovascular deaths) occurred during 12.0 years of follow-up.
Besides, in the subgroup analysis of ethnicity, our results indicated that rs9939609 polymorphism was significantly associated with cancer risk in Asians.
The rs9939609 A allele, which was associated with higher BMI in the sample, was inversely associated with overall (odds ratio (OR) versus all controls = 0.93; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.85-1.02 p = 0.12 per allele) and low-grade (OR = 0.90; 0.81-0.99 p = 0.03 per allele) prostate cancer risk, but positively associated with high-grade cancer among cases (OR high- versus low-grade cancer = 1.16; 0.99-1.37 p = 0.07 per allele).
A cross-sectional study examined 4839 subjects in the population-based Malmö Diet and Cancer study with dietary data (from a modified diet history method) and information on the genetic variant FTO (rs9939609).