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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Colorectal Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1416243
This article is part of the Research Topic Circadian Rhythms and Cancer Hallmarks: Toward Advances in Immune-Based Therapeutics, and Outcomes View all 11 articles

Associations Between Sleep Traits and Colorectal Cancer: A Mendelian Randomization Analysis

Provisionally accepted
Xiangyue Meng Xiangyue Meng 1Enshuo Fan Enshuo Fan 1Dan Lv Dan Lv 1*Yongjing Yang Yongjing Yang 2*Shixin Liu Shixin Liu 1*
  • 1 Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China
  • 2 Jilin Cancer Hospital, Changchun, Jilin Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background Although many researches have shown a relationship between sleeping habits and the risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC), there is a lack of data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to support this point. Hence, this study used Mendelian randomization (MR) to robustly assess whether five primary sleep characteristics are directly linked with the risk of CRC occurrence.In the performed study, the main Mendelian randomization analysis was conducted using approaches such as Inverse Variance Weighting (IVW), MR Egger, and weighted median method. To this end, five genetically independent variants associated with the sleep-related characteristics (chronotype, sleep duration, insomnia, daytime napping, and daytime fatigue) were identified and used as instrumental variables. Publicly accessible GWAS (Genome-Wide Association Study) data were used to identify these variants to investigate the putative causal relationships between sleep traits and CRC. Additionally, we conducted sensitivity analyses to minimize possible biases and verify the consistency of our results.Mendelian randomization analyses showed that an morning chronotype reduces the risk of CRC with the IVW method, hence, odds ratio (OR) of 1.21 and 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.67-0.93, which is statistically significant at P = 5.74E-03. Conversely, no significant evidence was found to suggest that sleep duration, insomnia, daytime napping, or daytime sleepiness have a direct causal impact on CRC risk according to the IVW analysis.Conclusions Findings from our Mendelian randomization analyses suggest that an individual's chronotype may contribute to an increased risk of CRC. It is advisable for individuals to adjust their sleep patterns as a preventative measure against CRC.

    Keywords: colorectal cancer, Chronotype, sleep duration, insomnia, Daytime sleepiness, Daytime napping, Mendelian randomization

    Received: 12 Apr 2024; Accepted: 14 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Meng, Fan, Lv, Yang and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Dan Lv, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China
    Yongjing Yang, Jilin Cancer Hospital, Changchun, Jilin Province, China
    Shixin Liu, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China

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