Health News

June 12, 2006

Folic acid is most commonly known as the nutrient that helps prevent birth defects, but new research suggests that folic acid may also help prevent cancer of the larynx.

In a study of people with precancerous lesions called leukoplakia, researchers found that the precancerous lesions disappeared in 28 percent of participants. 44 percent of participants experienced at least a partial shrinking of their lesions. All of the participants took 5 milligrams of folic acid three times a day for six months.

The study authors said the new research is just an initial look at folic acid's possible cancer-preventing properties. It being only the first of this tpwe of study means no major rewards can be claimed.

Results of the study appear in the July 15 issue of the journal Cancer.

Each year, nearly 40,000 Americans are diagnosed with head and neck cancers, including cancer of the larynx, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute. These types of cancer are most common in people older than 50, and tobacco use is the number-one risk factor for these malignancies, according to the NCI. Unlike most other cancers, laryngeal cancer hasn't seen any improvement in five-year survival rates during the past 30 years, according to background information in the study.