Causal effect between telomere length and thirteen types of cancer in Asian population: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study

Abstract

Background

The relationship between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and the risk of developing various cancers has always been controversial and predominantly focused on European populations. Hence, Mendelian randomization (MR) was applied to the Asian population to explore the causal relationships between LTL and the risk of developing various cancers.

Methods

We explored the causal connection between LTL and the risk of developing thirteen types of cancer in Asian populations using freely available genetic variation data. The primary analytical method employed was the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method, complemented by sensitivity and validation analyses. Following Bonferroni correction, P < 0.0038 was considered to indicate statistical significance, and P values ranging from 0.0038 to 0.05 were considered to indicate a nominally significant association.

Results

The findings indicated significant positive associations between LTL and the risk of developing lung cancer [odds ratio (OR) = 1.6009, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3056–1.9629, P = 6.08 × 10⁻⁶] and prostate cancer (OR = 1.4200, 95% CI 1.1489–1.7550, P = 0.0012). Additionally, there was a nominally significant association between LTL and the risk of developing hematological malignancy (OR = 1.5119, 95% CI 1.0810–2.1146, P = 0.0157). No statistically significant relationships between LTL and the risk of developing the other ten kinds of cancer were detected. No causal link between the risk of developing various cancers and LTL was discovered.

Conclusions

Asians with longer telomeres are more prone to developing lung and prostate cancer. There is also a nominally significant association between longer telomeres and the risk of developing hematological malignancy.