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Links Found Between Genetic Micronutrients and Risk of Colorectal Cancer
New research has identified possible positive associations of genetically predicted circulating iron and vitamin B-12 and inverse association of selenium with risk of colon cancer among patients of European descent.
Researchers investigated associations of genetically predicted concentrations of 11 micronutrients—β-carotene, calcium, copper, folate, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12, and zinc—with colorectal cancer risk using 2-sample Mendelian randomization (MR).
The investigators identified 58,221 patients with colorectal cancer and 67,694 control individuals from the Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium, Colorectal Cancer Transdisciplinary Study, and Colon Cancer Family Registry. They analyzed inverse variance-weighted MR responses, performed with sensitivity analyses, “to assess the impact of potential violations of MR assumptions,” explained the authors.
Nominally significant associations were noted for genetically predicted iron concentration and higher risk of colon cancer and proximal colon cancer. Higher risks for colon and colorectal cancer were found to have nominal significant associations with vitamin B-12 concentration.
“A nominally significant association was also noted for genetically predicted selenium concentration and lower risk of colon cancer and similarly for distal colon cancer,” the authors reported. “These associations were robust to sensitivity analyses. Nominally significant inverse associations were observed for zinc and risk of colorectal and distal colon cancers, but sensitivity analyses could not be performed. Genetically predicted concentrations of β-carotene, calcium, copper, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamin B-6 were not associated with disease risk.”
--Angelique Platas
Reference:
Tsilidis K, Papadimitriou N, Dimou N, et al. Genetically predicted circulating concentrations of micronutrients and risk of colorectal cancer among individuals of European descent: a Mendelian randomization study, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. Published online March 19, 2021.
