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. 2024 Jul 5;24(1):801.
doi: 10.1186/s12885-024-12576-0.

Exploring the causal association between uric acid and lung cancer in east Asian and European populations: a mendelian randomization study

Ping Lin  1 , Linxiang Zhang  2 , Xiaohui Tang  3 , Jihuang Wang  4
Affiliations

Exploring the causal association between uric acid and lung cancer in east Asian and European populations: a mendelian randomization study

Ping Lin et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Lung cancer still ranks first in the mortality rate of cancer. Uric acid is a product of purine metabolism in humans. Its presence in the serum is controversial; some say that its high levels have a protective effect against tumors, others say the opposite, that is, high levels increase the risk of cancer. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the potential causal association between serum uric acid levels and lung cancer.

Methods: Mendelian randomization was used to achieve our aim. Sensitivity analyses was performed to validate the reliability of the results, followed by reverse Mendelian analyses to determine a potential reverse causal association.

Results: A significant causal association was found between serum uric acid levels and lung cancer in East Asian and European populations. Further sublayer analysis revealed a significant causal association between uric acid and small cell lung cancer, while no potential association was observed between uric acid and non-small cell lung cancer, squamous lung cancer, and lung adenocarcinoma. The sensitivity analyses confirmed the reliability of the results. Reverse Mendelian analysis showed no reverse causal association between uric acid and lung cancer.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggested that serum uric acid levels were negatively associated with lung cancer, with uric acid being a potential protective factor for lung cancer. In addition, uric acid level monitoring was simple and inexpensive. Therefore, it might be used as a biomarker for lung cancer, promoting its wide use clinical practice.

Keywords: Lung cancer; Mendelian randomization; Protective factor; Uric acid.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study design
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plot of the results of two-sample MR analysis for UA and LC in East Asian and European populations
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Sensitivity analysis of the leave-one-out method for UA and LC.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Forest plot of the results of inverse MR analysis for LC and UA in East Asian and European populations
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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