KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to explore the causal relationship between various immune cell characteristics and skin cancer using a 2-sample MR technique.
- Researchers observed that genetic link between immune cells and skin cancer enhanced therapeutic strategy design.
Numerous clinical studies and meta-analyses have demonstrated that the development of skin cancer are linked to various subtypes of immune cells. Still, no established study can be considered as evidence for a clinical association and differentiate the nature of the association (causal or biased).
The mendelian randomization (MR) analysis reduces the effect of confounding factors and improves the accuracy of the results compared to traditional studies.
Wei Yin and the team aimed to investigate the causal relationship between various immune cell characteristics and skin cancer using a 2-sample MR approach.
Researchers employed a 2-sample MR methodology to assess the causal association between 731 immune cell characteristics and skin cancer. Multiple MR methods were used to bias the results and derive reliable estimates of causality between instrumental variables and outcomes. The results for stability, heterogeneity, and horizontal multiplicity were validated by comprehensive sensitivity analyses.
Results indicated that a potential causal relationship existed between various immune cells and skin cancers. Specifically, 1 type of immune cell was identified as a possible cause for malignant melanoma of the skin (MM), while 8 different types of immune cells were potentially causal for basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Additionally, about 4 different types of immune cells were found to be potentially causal for actinic keratosis (AK).
Contrastingly, no immune cell types were found to have a potential causal association with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The outcomes were persistent across all analyses.
The study concluded by demonstrating the close connection between immune cells and skin cancer disease through genetic means, enriching the current knowledge about the role of immune cells in skin cancer, resulting in a further contribution to the design of therapeutic strategies from an immunological perspective.
The study was supported by Yunnan Province Expert Workstation of Professor Guo jun (Project No.202105AF150038 ), 2022 the Joint Special Funds for the Department of Science and Technology of Yunnan Province‑Kunming Medical University(NO.202201AY070001-155) and Scientific Research Fund Project of Education Department of Yunnan Province (No.2023Y0661).
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39020276/
Yin W, Li R, Zhang Z, et al. (2024). “Causal association between skin cancer and immune cells: mendelian randomization (MR) study.” BMC Cancer. 2024 Jul 17;24(1):849. doi: 10.1186/s12885-024-12603-0. PMID: 39020276.
