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Folic folly? ... questions raised over the wisdom of fortifying foods with folic acid.
Heart patients in Norway were more likely to die from cancer if they took folic acid and vitamin B12 supplements compared with those who did not take them, Norwegian researchers said on Tuesday.

The original article can be found at: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/supplements-tied-to-cancer-20091118-il9j.html

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This is an important topic. It was believed for a long time that folic acid supplementation was harmless and it was added to food and is routinely given as supplements to pregnant women to prevent spina bifida. In addition, it was believed that folic acid supplementation reduces levels of a substance called homocysteine, high levels of which have been implicated in heart attacks. However, trials have shown no direct benefit associated with folic acid supplementation and now follow-up of two quite large randomized trials has found increased rates of cancer and death. These facts are well reported here and put in context by referring to lack of efficacy and other studies with similar findings. The article would have benefited from more detail on two issues: it should have been pointed out that the studies were randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials (the highest level of evidence) - although they were not specifically designed to look at the effects on cancer. The other problem is the way results were expressed - with the increased risk being expressed in relative terms only rather than an absolute increase in risk. The "25%" increase in cancer risk actually equates to an absolute increase of about 1.6%. In other words for every 63 participants who took the supplements one extra case of cancer occurred. This is a worrying statistic, but not as impressive as the "25%" quoted in the article.

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