Risk Mapping of Lung Cancer: a Comprehensive Appraisal of Published Meta-analyses Incorporating Mendelian Randomization Studies

Introduction: A comprehensive appraisal of published meta-analyses incorporating Mendelian randomization studies was performed to map the different risk factors and assess the causality for lung cancer.

Methods: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational and interventional studies were reviewed based on PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library. Mendelian randomization analyses were conducted to validate the causal associations of those various exposures with lung cancer using summary statistics from 10 genome-wide association studies (GWAS) consortia and other GWAS databases in MR-Base platform.

Results: In the review of meta-analyses, 105 risk factors associated with lung cancer were identified from 93 articles. It was found that 72 risk factors were nominally significant (P < 0.05) associated with lung cancer. Mendelian randomization analyses were performed to analyze 36 exposures based on 551 SNPs and 4,944,052 individuals, finding that 3 exposures had a consistent risk/protective effect on lung cancer with the results of the meta-analysis. In Mendelian randomization anaylses, smoking (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.18-1.75; P = 0.001) and blood copper (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.01-1.29; P = 0.039) significantly associated with increased risk of lung cancer, whereas aspirin use (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.50-0.89; P = 0.006) showed protective effects.

Conclusion: This study mapped putative associations of risk factors for lung cancer, revealing the causal hazard effect of smoking, blood copper, and the protective effect of aspirin use in the development of lung cancer.

Clinical Trial Registry: This study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020159082).