Ge Yizhi, Liu Haitao, Peng Fanyu, Guo Yesong, Wen Jing, Jiang Xuesong, Wang Lijun
Department of Radiation Oncology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research & The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2025 Jun 18;87(8):4821-4826. doi: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000003509. eCollection 2025 Aug.
In previous observational studies, a correlation between food intakes and colorectal cancer has been established. Immune cells play a crucial role in the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer, suggesting promising therapeutic avenues through immune cell interference. Food intakes, being the most easily modifiable variable in clinical practice, present a prospective therapeutic approach by modulating immune cells to suppress the occurrence and progression of colorectal cancer. However, elucidating the causal relationship between immune cell-mediated food intakes and colorectal cancer remains to be resolved. We employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization approach to investigate the causal relationship between food intakes and colorectal cancer. Furthermore, we utilized two-step Mendelian randomization and multivariable Mendelian randomization to delve into the mediating role of immune cell signaling in the causal relationship between food intakes and colorectal cancer. Leveraging publicly available genetic datasets, our analysis encompassed 903 traits, including 171 food intakes features, 731 immune cell features, and one trait associated with colorectal cancer. We identified causal relationships between three types of food intakes and colorectal cancer. Furthermore, our two-step Mendelian randomization analysis and multivariable Mendelian randomization analysis indicated that monocyte-mediated grapefruit intakes serve as a protective factor against colorectal cancer, B cell-mediated pulses intakes also act as a protective factor against colorectal cancer. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to integrate immune cell features, food intakes features, and colorectal cancer data into Mendelian randomization analysis on a large scale. Our research findings suggest that adjusting food intakes to modulate immune cells holds promise as a preventive and protective measure against colorectal cancer, offering valuable prospects for clinical patient treatment.
在先前的观察性研究中，已确立了食物摄入量与结直肠癌之间的相关性。免疫细胞在结直肠癌的发生和发展中起关键作用，这表明通过干扰免疫细胞可能有前景广阔的治疗途径。食物摄入量是临床实践中最易于改变的变量，通过调节免疫细胞来抑制结直肠癌的发生和进展，提供了一种前瞻性的治疗方法。然而，阐明免疫细胞介导的食物摄入量与结直肠癌之间的因果关系仍有待解决。我们采用两样本孟德尔随机化方法来研究食物摄入量与结直肠癌之间的因果关系。此外，我们利用两步孟德尔随机化和多变量孟德尔随机化来深入探究免疫细胞信号传导在食物摄入量与结直肠癌因果关系中的中介作用。利用公开可用的遗传数据集，我们的分析涵盖了903个特征，包括171个食物摄入量特征、731个免疫细胞特征以及一个与结直肠癌相关的特征。我们确定了三种食物摄入量与结直肠癌之间的因果关系。此外，我们的两步孟德尔随机化分析和多变量孟德尔随机化分析表明，单核细胞介导的葡萄柚摄入量是预防结直肠癌的保护因素，B细胞介导的豆类摄入量也是预防结直肠癌的保护因素。据我们所知，我们是首个将免疫细胞特征、食物摄入量特征和结直肠癌数据大规模整合到孟德尔随机化分析中的。我们的研究结果表明，调整食物摄入量以调节免疫细胞有望成为预防和保护结直肠癌的措施，为临床患者治疗提供了有价值的前景。
