Institute of Experimental Medicine CAS

Published 31. 03. 2022

The recently published international study of the GECCO consortium "Associations Between Glycemic Traits and Colorectal Cancer: A Mendelian Randomization Analysis", co-authored by Pavel Vodička, MD, PhD. from the Department of Molecular Biology of Cancer, investigates the influence of so-called "glycemic traits" on the development of colorectal cancer (CRC). These are important risk factors such as hyperinsulinaemia, hyperglycaemia and type 2 diabetes. In a new observational study, researchers looked for a causal link between these risk factors and CRC development.

They employed a method called Mendelian randomisation, which uses functional genetic variants as a tool to demonstrate the causality of risk factors. Its basic principle was proposed many years ago, but it has only boomed within the last decade. This method allows researchers to decide whether a given relationship between a risk factor and a disease is causal (relating to or acting as a cause) or whether it is merely an association (i.e. a rather unsubstantiated random effect). The results of the study confirmed the causal effect of hyperinsulinaemia (i.e. higher fasting insulin), but not hyperglycaemia or type 2 diabetes, on the increased risk of CRC. This suggests that pharmacological or lifestyle interventions that reduce circulating insulin levels may be beneficial in preventing CRC. 

The full text of the article you can find on the website:  https://academic.oup.com/jnci/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jnci/djac011/6512063?login=true