Association Between Paclitaxel and Stroke: Mendelian Randomization

Paclitaxel, a naturally derived anticancer drug extracted from the plant Taxus brevifolia, holds significant medicinal and clinical value. Recently, more and more studies have shown that paclitaxel may be involved in the risk of stroke. However, there is still controversy over the relationship between the two at present. The objective of this study is to investigate a causality between paclitaxel and stroke using a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR). Summary statistics for paclitaxel and stroke were derived from multiple comprehensive genome-wide association studies. The Inverse-variance weighting (IVW) method was used for preliminary analysis. Additionally, MR Steiger was employed to evaluate the robustness of these genetic variants in relation to paclitaxel and stroke. This study did not find a correlation between paclitaxel and stroke (OR: 1.008; 95% CI: 0.894–1.013, P = 0.270). This relationship was supported by other analysis methods as well. Furthermore, MR Steiger’s analysis confirmed a causal relationship between paclitaxel and stroke ( “TRUE”). Our research has shown that paclitaxel does not lead to stroke, and further exploration of the relationship between the two is still needed.