Revealing the Causal Impact of Obstructive Sleep Apnea on Cancer Risk: Insights from Mendelian randomization analysis

Observational studies have suggested that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may have a potential carcinogenic role. However, the results of these studies were inconsistent and the underlying genetic mechanisms have yet to be fully understood.

We conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis using large-scale genome-wide association studies summary statistics to explore the possible causal effect of OSA on the risk of 16 specific-site cancers in the European population.

The MR analysis revealed a significantly negative correlation between OSA and the susceptibility to prostate cancer (OR: 0.87, 95%CI 0.79–0.95, p = 0.002) and a causal increase in the vulnerability to pancreatic malignancies (OR: 2.02, 95%CI 1.1–3.7, p = 0.02). However, no causal effects of OSA on other specific-site cancers were found. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated no significant heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy, thus validating the robustness of the original results.

Our MR provided important insights into the causal associations between OSA and cancer risk, highlighting both protective and potentially harmful effects of OSA on different cancer types.