Genetically Predicted Gut Microbiota in Correlation with the Risk of Head and Neck Cancer

Area of Science:

• Microbiome research
• Oncology
• Genetic epidemiology

Background:

• Observational studies suggest links between gut microbiome and extraintestinal cancers.
• A causal relationship between gut microbiome and head and neck cancer (HNC) risk is not well-established.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential causal relationship between gut microbiome composition and HNC risk.
• Utilize Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis for robust causal inference.

Main Methods:

• Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.
• Utilized publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) data.
• Employed inverse variance weighted (IVW), weighted median (WM), and MR-Egger methods with sensitivity analyses (MR-Egger intercept, Cochran's Q, leave-one-out, Steiger directionality test).

Main Results:

• Identified 16 potential causal relationships between gut microbiota abundances and HNC risk.
• Validated 10 relationships after sensitivity analyses, including specific bacterial classes, orders, families, and genera.
• Steiger directionality test confirmed the accuracy of the causal direction estimates (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• The gut microbiome composition is causally associated with the risk of developing head and neck cancer (HNC).
• Gut microbiota may serve as a novel biomarker for HNC preventive and therapeutic strategies.