Causal roles of dietary structure and types on prostate cancer risk: A mendelian randomization study

Numerous observational studies have reported a strong link between dietary habits and the risk of prostate cancer. However, these studies are susceptible to confounding factors. To address this question, we conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to explore the causal relationship between dietary habits and prostate cancer.

Genetic data for 25 different diet types were obtained from UK Biobank. Summary-level data on dietary composition and prostate cancer were obtained from a large genome-wide association study (GWAS). We employed the inverse variance weighted (IVW) for the primary analysis to examine the causal relationship between dietary components, dietary types, and prostate cancer. We also conducted sensitivity analyses using the Steiger filter, MR-Egger intercept test, Cochran's Q statistic, funnel plot, and leave-one-out analysis were used for sensitivity analysis to ensure the robustness of our findings.

IVW results showed that relative fat intake (OR = 0.57, 95%CI: 0.33-1.00, P < 0.05) and canned tomato intake (OR = 0.73, 95%CI: 0.60 ~ 0.87, P < 0.01) and green bean intake (OR = 0.85, 95%CI: 0.74 ~ 0.98, P = 0.03) may be protective factors for prostate cancer. In contrast, relative sugar intake (OR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.03-2.00, P = 0.03) may increase the risk of prostate cancer.

Relative fat intake, green bean intake, and canned tomato intake may have a protective causal effect against prostate cancer, while relative sugar intake may increase the risk of prostate cancer. R These insights have implications for developing prevention strategies and interventions targeting dietary intake to prevent prostate cancer.