Understanding bladder cancer risk: Mendelian randomization analysis of immune cell and inflammatory factor influence
Hiocheng Un1, Wumier Wusimanjiang1, Wenhao Zhan1
1Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Introduction:
The intricate roles of immune cells and inflammatory factors in cancer, particularly their association with the risk of bladder cancer, are not well understood.
Methods:
This study aimed to clarify potential causal relationships between these elements and the development of bladder cancer using genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics for 731 immune cell phenotypes and 91 circulating inflammatory factors (cases=2,053; controls=287,137). The primary analytical approach was Inverse Variance Weighting (IVW), supplemented by MR-Egger regression, weighted median, and weighted mode analyses. Sensitivity analyses included Cochran Q test, MR-Egger intercept test, and Leave-one-out test.
Results:
The findings indicated that monocytes are positively correlated with an increased risk of bladder cancer. On the contrary, double-negative (DN) T cells, HLA DR+CD8br, and CD28 on CD28+CD45RA+CD8br T cells exhibited an inverse correlation, suggesting a possible protective effect. Furthermore, inflammatory factors IL-20, IL-22RA1, and Eotaxin were significantly associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer.
Discussion:
These results suggest that certain immune cell phenotypes and inflammatory factors may play a role in the development of bladder cancer and could serve as potential biomarkers for assessing tumor risk. The findings also offer new insights into the pathogenesis of bladder cancer, indicating a need for further investigation.
