Lymphocyte micronuclei frequencies in skin, haematological, prostate, colorectal and esophageal cancer cases: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Micronucleus (MN) assay has been widely used as a biomarker of DNA damage, chromosomal instability, cancer risk and accelerated aging in many epidemiological studies. In this narrative review and meta-analysis we assessed the association between lymphocyte micronuclei (MNi) and cancers of the skin, blood, digestive tract, and prostate. The review identified nineteen studies with 717 disease subjects and 782 controls. Significant increases in MRi for MNi were observed in the following groups: subjects with blood cancer (MRi = 3.98; 95 % CI: 1.98–7.99; p = 0.000) and colorectal cancer (excluding IBD) (MRi = 2.69; 95 % CI: 1.82–3.98, p < 0.000). The results of this review suggest that lymphocyte MNi are a biomarker of DNA damage and chromosomal instability in people with haematological or colorectal cancers. However, the MRi for lymphocyte MNi in subjects with cancers of skin, prostate, esophagus was not significantly increased. More case-control and prospective studies are warranted to further verify the observed trends and to better understand the role of lymphocyte MNi as a biomarker of cancer risk in blood, skin, digestive tract and prostate.