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Mendelian randomization does not support serum calcium in prostate cancer risk
James Yarmolinsky1,2, Katie Berryman1,2, Ryan Langdon1,2
1MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Cancer Causes & Control : CCC
|October 12, 2018
Summary
This study found no evidence that higher serum calcium levels increase prostate cancer risk. Mendelian randomization analysis suggests calcium may even be protective, but further research is needed.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Epidemiology
- Oncology
Background:
- Observational studies suggest a link between dietary and serum calcium and prostate cancer risk.
- Residual confounding in observational studies limits causal inference regarding calcium's role in prostate cancer.
- Mendelian randomization (MR) offers a robust method to assess causality using genetic variants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the hypothesis that serum calcium is associated with an increased risk of overall and advanced prostate cancer.
- To utilize Mendelian randomization to strengthen causal inference on the association between serum calcium and prostate cancer.
- To investigate the potential protective or detrimental effects of serum calcium on prostate cancer development.
Main Methods:
- Constructed a genetic instrument using five single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with serum calcium.
- Employed Mendelian randomization to evaluate the effect of a 0.5 mg/dL increase in serum calcium on prostate cancer risk.
- Analyzed data from 72,729 men (44,825 cases, 27,904 controls) in the PRACTICAL Consortium for overall prostate cancer.
- Assessed the risk of advanced prostate cancer in 33,498 men (6,263 cases, 27,235 controls).
Main Results:
- Weak evidence suggested a potential protective effect of serum calcium on overall prostate cancer risk (OR per 0.5 mg/dL increase: 0.83, 95% CI 0.63-1.08).
- No strong evidence was found for an association between serum calcium and advanced prostate cancer risk (OR per 0.5 mg/dL increase: 0.98, 95% CI 0.57-1.70).
- The p-values for overall and advanced prostate cancer were 0.12 and 0.93, respectively.
Conclusions:
- The Mendelian randomization analysis does not support the hypothesis that serum calcium increases the risk of overall prostate cancer.
- The study found no significant association between serum calcium levels and the risk of advanced prostate cancer.
- Current evidence from this MR study does not link higher serum calcium to increased prostate cancer risk.
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