Causal relationship between endometrial cancer and risk of breast cancer: A 2-sample Mendelian randomization study

Abstract

Several studies have confirmed the important role of endometrial cancer (EC) in the development and progression of breast cancer (BC), and this study will explore the causal relationship between EC and BC by 2-sample Mendelian randomization analysis. Pooled data from published genome-wide association studies were used to assess the association between EC and BC risk in women using 5 methods, namely, inverse variance weighting (IVW), MR-Egger, weighted median (WME), simple multimaximetry (SM) and weighted multimaximetry (WM) with the EC-associated genetic loci as the instrumental variables (IV) and sensitivity analyses were used to assess the robustness of the results. The statistical results showed a causal association between EC and BC (IVW: OR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.01–1.32, P = .02; MR-Egger: OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 0.71–1.51, P = .11; weighted median: OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.97–1.31, P = .19; simple plurality method: OR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.81–1.15, P = .78; weighted plurality method: OR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.81–1.14, P = .75), and the results of the sensitivity analyses showed that there was no significant heterogeneity or multiplicity, and the results were stable. EC is associated with an increased risk of developing BC. The results of this MR analysis can be used as a guideline for screening for BC in women with EC and to help raise awareness of screening for early detection and treatment.