# An Exploration of Shared Risk Factors for Coronary Artery Disease and Cancer from 109 Traits: The Evidence from Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Studies

## TL;DR

This study uses genetic data to find shared and unique risk factors for heart disease and cancer, identifying protective and harmful traits like cell volume and weight.

## Contribution

The study systematically identifies shared and unique causal risk factors for coronary artery disease and cancer using two-sample Mendelian randomization.

## Key findings

- Genetic-predicted mean sphered cell volume (MSCV) is protective for both CAD and cancer.
- Weight is a risk factor for both CAD and cancer.
- Telomere length is a unique risk or protective factor for CAD or cancer.

## Abstract

Although observational studies have reported several common
biomarkers related to coronary artery disease (CAD) and cancer, there is a
shortage of traditional epidemiological data to establish causative linkages.
Thus, we conducted a comprehensive two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR)
analysis to systematically investigate the causal associations of 109 traits with
both CAD and cancer to identify their shared risk and protective factors.

The genetic association datasets pertaining to exposure and
outcomes were reviewed using the most recent and public genome-wide association
studies (GWAS). Inverse variance weighting (IVW), weighted median (WM), and
MR-Egger strategies were implemented for the MR analyses. The heterogeneity and
pleiotropy were measured utilizing leave-one-out sensitivity testing, MR-PRESSO
outlier detection, and Cochran’s Q test.

The IVW
analyses revealed that genetic-predicted mean sphered cell volume (MSCV) is a
protective factor for CAD, and weight is a risk factor. MSCV and weight also show
similar effects on cancer. Furthermore, our study also identified a set of risk
and protective factors unique to CAD and cancer, such as telomere length.

Our Mendelian randomization study sheds light on
shared and unique risk and protective factors for CAD and cancer, offering
valuable insights that could guide future research and the development of
personalized strategies for preventing and treating these two significant health
issues.