AUTHOR=Zhou Kai , Zhu Lin , Chen Nian , Huang Gang , Feng Guangyong , Wu Qian , Wei Xiao , Gou Xiaoxia TITLE=Causal associations between schizophrenia and cancers risk: a Mendelian randomization study JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2023.1258015 DOI=10.3389/fonc.2023.1258015 ISSN=2234-943X ABSTRACT=Background

Previous observational studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding the incidence of cancer in patients with schizophrenia compared to the general population. The causal relationship between schizophrenia and cancer remains unclear and requires further investigation.

Objective

To investigate the causal relationship between schizophrenia and cancer.

Methods

In this study, a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted using publicly available genome-wide association studies to determine the causal relationship. The effect estimates were calculated using the random-effects inverse-variance-weighted method.

Results

We determined a causal relationship between genetic predisposition to schizophrenia and cancer, with schizophrenia increasing lung cancer (odds ratio (OR) = 1.0007; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.0001-1.0013; p = 0.0192), thyroid cancer (OR = 1.5482; CI, 1.1112-2.1569; p =0.0098),colorectal cancer (OR = 1.0009; CI, 1.0001-1.0018; p = 0.0344), ovarian cancer (OR = 1.0770; CI, 1.0352-1.1203; p = 0.0002), breast cancer (OR = 1.0011; CI, 1.0001- 1.0022; p =0.0352) and reduced the risk of malignant neoplasm of the stomach (OR = 0.8502; CI, 0.7230-0.9998; p = 0.0496).

Conclusions

This study conducted a two-sample MR analysis and discovered a positive causal relationship between schizophrenia and breast, ovarian, thyroid, lung, and colorectal cancers. On the other hand, an inverse causal relationship was found between schizophrenia and malignant neoplasm of the stomach.