Black Emily A M, Allemani Claudia, Dudding Tom
University of Bristol Dental School, Bristol, United Kingdom.
Cancer Survival Group, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2025 May 2;34(5):641-648. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-24-1388.
Skin cancers are the third most common cancer worldwide, with incidence increasing. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities strongly associated with the development of cardiovascular disease. More than one in five individuals have MetS, and it is linked with at least 14 different cancers. This study aimed to investigate whether MetS is a risk factor for skin cancer.
A prospective cohort study was conducted in the UK Biobank. The association between MetS and skin cancer was investigated using multivariable Poisson regression. To investigate causality, a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was conducted using summary-level genome-wide association study data from the UK Biobank (MetS) and FinnGen (skin cancer).
A total of 467,919 participants were included; 26.7% had MetS. Follow-up was for up to 10.8 years. MetS showed a moderately sized protective effect on basal-cell carcinoma, whereas the effect for squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma crossed the null. Overall, MR found there was some weak evidence for increased odds of skin cancer in those with MetS [OR = 1.07 (95% confidence interval: 1.01, 1.14)].
The observational study identifies a moderately sized protective effect of MetS on basal-cell carcinoma with MR evidence suggesting a weak causal effect in the opposite direction.
This study has found little-to-no effect of MetS on skin cancer despite links between MetS and at least 14 other cancers.
皮肤癌是全球第三大常见癌症，其发病率呈上升趋势。代谢综合征（MetS）是一组与心血管疾病发生密切相关的代谢异常。超过五分之一的人患有代谢综合征，且它与至少14种不同癌症相关。本研究旨在调查代谢综合征是否为皮肤癌的危险因素。
在英国生物银行进行了一项前瞻性队列研究。使用多变量泊松回归研究代谢综合征与皮肤癌之间的关联。为了研究因果关系，利用来自英国生物银行（代谢综合征）和芬兰基因库（皮肤癌）的汇总水平全基因组关联研究数据进行了两样本孟德尔随机化（MR）研究。
共纳入467,919名参与者；26.7%患有代谢综合征。随访时间长达10.8年。代谢综合征对基底细胞癌显示出中等程度的保护作用，而对鳞状细胞癌和恶性黑色素瘤的影响则无明显差异。总体而言，孟德尔随机化研究发现，有一些微弱证据表明代谢综合征患者患皮肤癌的几率增加[比值比 = 1.07（95%置信区间：1.01, 1.14）]。
观察性研究确定代谢综合征对基底细胞癌有中等程度的保护作用，孟德尔随机化研究证据表明在相反方向有微弱的因果效应。
尽管代谢综合征与至少14种其他癌症有关，但本研究发现代谢综合征对皮肤癌几乎没有影响。
