Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34229617›Full record

ArticleGenes & nutrition2021

Serum iron status and the risk of breast cancer in the European population: a two-sample Mendelian randomisation study.

Chenyang Hou, Qingzhi Hou, Xing Xie, Huifeng Wang, Yueliang Chen, Tingxi Lu, Qunying Wu, Yongcong Liang, Yanling Hu, Yuang Mao

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Genes & nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Chenyang Hou *Department of Information and Management, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530000, Guangxi, China.
Qingzhi Hou *Department of Occupational Health and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shandong First Medical University (Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences), Taian, 271000, Shandong, China.
Xing XieLife Sciences Institute, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530000, Guangxi, China.
Huifeng WangDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Pre-Clinical Medicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530000, Guangxi, China.
Yueliang ChenLife Sciences Institute, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530000, Guangxi, China.
Tingxi LuDepartment of Information and Management, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530000, Guangxi, China.
Qunying WuDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Pre-Clinical Medicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530000, Guangxi, China.
Yongcong LiangLife Sciences Institute, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530000, Guangxi, China.
Yanling HuLife Sciences Institute, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530000, Guangxi, China. ylhupost@163.com.
Yuang MaoDepartment of Information and Management, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530000, Guangxi, China. maoyuang@gxmu.edu.cn.
Guangxi Medical University · CNShandong First Medical University · CN

Funding

Guangxi Degree and Postgraduate Education Reform Project JGY2020056Key laboratory of early prevention and treatment of regional high-incidence tumors, ministry of edu-cation GKE2015-ZZ16
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPrevious observational studies have provided conflicting results on the association between serum iron status and the risk of breast cancer. Considering the relevance of this relationship to breast cancer prevention, its elucidation is warranted. OBJECT: We used a two-sample Mendelian randomisation (MR) study to explore the causal relationship between serum iron status and the risk of breast cancer.

methodTo select single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that could be used as instrumental variables for iron status, we used the Genetics of Iron Status consortium, which includes 11 discovery and 8 replication cohorts, encompassing 48,972 individuals of European descent. Moreover, we used the OncoArray network to select SNPs that could be considered instrumental variables for the outcome of interest (breast cancer); this dataset included 122,977 individuals of European descent with breast cancer and 105,974 peers without breast cancer. Both conservative (SNPs associated with overall iron status markers) and liberal (SNPs associated with the levels of at least one iron status marker) approaches were used as part of the MR analysis. For the former, we used an inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method, whereas for the latter, we used the IVW, MR-Egger regression, weighted median and simple mode methods.

resultsWhen the conservative approach was used, iron status showed no significant association with the risk of breast cancer or any of its subtypes. However, when the liberal approach was used, transferrin levels were found to be positively associated with the risk of ER-negative breast cancer based on the simple mode method (OR for MR, 1.225; 95% CI, 1.064, 1.410; P = 0.030). Nevertheless, the levels of the other iron status markers showed no association with the risk of breast cancer or its subtypes (P > 0.05).

conclusionIn our MR study, the liberal approach suggested that changes in the concentration of transferrin could increase the risk of ER-negative breast cancer, although the levels of other iron status markers had no effect on the risk of breast cancer or its subtypes. This should be verified in future studies.

Indexed as

Breast cancerER-negative breast cancerER-positive breast cancerIron statusMendelian randomisation

Identifiers

PMID34229617
PMCPMC8259019
OpenAlexW3182673374

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.