Folic Acid Supplements Do Not Reduce Cancer Risk In Patients With Adenoma History

British and American researchers who examined data from three large trials found that folic acid supplements neither prevented or increased the occurrence of  benign, pre-cancerous colon tumors known as adenomas. However, the researchers did observe a “potential beneficial effect” of the supplements on overall mortality of the participants. The meta-analysis, undertaken because of observations that low folate status was associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer, looked at data from 2,632 men and women with a history of adenomas who had taken either  0.5 or 1.0 mg of folic acid a day or a placebo. The researchers concluded that “after up to 3.5 years of folic acid use, there is no clear decrease or increase in the occurrence of new adenomas …”