Body mass index and the risk of basal cell carcinoma: evidence from Mendelian randomization analysis

We aim to test whether body mass index (BMI) is causally associated with the risk of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with four BMI-related traits were screened via a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with 681,275, 336,107, 454,884, and 461,460 European-descent individuals, respectively. Summary-level data for BCC (17,416 cases and 375,455 controls) were extracted from UK Biobank. An inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was employed as the primary MR analysis. Sensitivity analyses were conducted via MR-Egger regression, heterogeneity test, pleiotropy test, and leave-one-out sensitivity test. The assumption that exposure causes outcome was verified using the MR Steiger test. Meta-analysis was also used to estimate the average genetically predicted effect of BMI on BCC.

Two-sample MR analysis showed inverse associations between genetically predicted BMI and BCC risk. Moreover, when exposure and outcome were switched to see if reverse causation was possible, there was no evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship from BCC to BMI. Finally, the meta-analysis also showed a strong negative causal relationship between BMI and BCC.

Genetical predicted higher BMI were associated with lower BCC risk. Further research is required to comprehend the mechanisms underlying this putative causative association.