Unveiling the causal link between metabolic factors and ovarian cancer risk using Mendelian randomization analysis.

Background: Metabolic abnormalities are closely tied to the development of ovarian cancer (OC), yet the relationship between anthropometric indicators as risk indicators for metabolic abnormalities and OC lacks consistency.

Method: The Mendelian randomization (MR) approach is a widely used methodology for determining causal relationships. Our study employed summary statistics from the genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and we used inverse variance weighting (IVW) together with MR-Egger and weighted median (WM) supplementary analyses to assess causal relationships between exposure and outcome. Furthermore, additional sensitivity studies, such as leave-one-out analyses and MR-PRESSO were used to assess the stability of the associations.

Result: The IVW findings demonstrated a causal associations between 10 metabolic factors and an increased risk of OC. Including "Basal metabolic rate" (OR= 1.24, = 6.86×10); "Body fat percentage" (OR= 1.22, = 8.20×10); "Hip circumference" (OR= 1.20, = 5.92×10); "Trunk fat mass" (OR= 1.15, = 1.03×10); "Trunk fat percentage" (OR= 1.25, = 8.55×10); "Waist circumference" (OR= 1.23, = 3.28×10); "Weight" (OR= 1.21, = 9.82×10); "Whole body fat mass" (OR= 1.21, = 4.90×10); "Whole body fat-free mass" (OR= 1.19, = 4.11×10) and "Whole body water mass" (OR= 1.21, = 1.85×10).

Conclusion: Several metabolic markers linked to altered fat accumulation and distribution are significantly associated with an increased risk of OC.