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Morning chronotype and digestive tract cancers: Mendelian randomization study
Shuai Yuan1, Amy M Mason2, Olga E Titova3
1Unit of Medical Epidemiology, Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
International Journal of Cancer
|September 12, 2022
Summary
Morning chronotype, or being a "morning person," is linked to a lower risk of digestive tract cancers, especially stomach and colorectal cancers. This genetic study provides evidence for this protective association.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Cancer Epidemiology
- Chronobiology
Background:
- Previous research linked morning chronotype to reduced risks of prostate and breast cancer.
- The association between chronotype and digestive tract cancer risk remains underexplored.
Approach:
- A Mendelian randomization (MR) study was conducted to investigate chronotype's association with major digestive tract cancers.
- Utilized 317 genetic variants for chronotype from a large genome-wide meta-analysis (449,734 individuals).
- Analyzed summary-level data from UK Biobank and FinnGen studies for overall and specific digestive tract cancers.
Key Points:
- Genetic liability for morning chronotype showed reduced risk for overall digestive tract cancer, stomach cancer, and colorectal cancer.
- Findings were directionally replicated across UK Biobank and FinnGen datasets.
- Associations remained consistent after adjusting for sleep duration, insomnia, and body mass index.
Conclusions:
- This MR study provides evidence for an inverse association between morning chronotype and digestive tract cancer risk.
- Morning chronotype appears particularly protective against stomach and colorectal cancers.
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