Causal role of immune cells in thyroid cancer: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Abstract Background Immune cells play a crucial role in the progression of thyroid cancer. However, previous research on the link between immune cells and thyroid cancer has produced conflicting results. Methods Based on the public available genome-wide association studies summary statistics, we per...

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Main Authors: Shurong Wang, Zhouyu Fang, Wenjin Xiao, Ying Xie, Yueyue Zhang, Zhihua Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2025-04-01
Series:Discover Oncology
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s12672-025-02249-0
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author Shurong Wang
Zhouyu Fang
Wenjin Xiao
Ying Xie
Yueyue Zhang
Zhihua Liu
author_facet Shurong Wang
Zhouyu Fang
Wenjin Xiao
Ying Xie
Yueyue Zhang
Zhihua Liu
author_sort Shurong Wang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Immune cells play a crucial role in the progression of thyroid cancer. However, previous research on the link between immune cells and thyroid cancer has produced conflicting results. Methods Based on the public available genome-wide association studies summary statistics, we performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to evaluate the causal association between 731 immune phenotypes (including median fluorescence intensities, absolute cell counts, relative cell counts, and morphological parameters) and thyroid cancer. The inverse variance weighting method was employed to investigate the causal relationship between exposure and outcome. Moreover, multiple sensitivity analyses, such as MR-Egger, weighted median, and MR-PRESSO, were simultaneously applied to reinforce the final results. Results After false discovery rate correction, four immunophenotypes were found to be significantly associated with a decreased risk of thyroid cancer. And six immunophenotypes were significantly associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer. Conclusions Our study has demonstrated the close connection between immune cells and thyroid cancer by genetic means, thus providing guidance for future clinical research.
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publishDate 2025-04-01
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spelling doaj-art-2890e2ca1f2f4053a31f04c1f9ac8a742025-08-20T02:11:47ZengSpringerDiscover Oncology2730-60112025-04-011611910.1007/s12672-025-02249-0Causal role of immune cells in thyroid cancer: a two-sample Mendelian randomization studyShurong Wang0Zhouyu Fang1Wenjin Xiao2Ying Xie3Yueyue Zhang4Zhihua Liu5Department of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversityDepartment of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversityDepartment of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversityDepartment of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversityDepartment of Medical Imaging, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversityDepartment of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversityAbstract Background Immune cells play a crucial role in the progression of thyroid cancer. However, previous research on the link between immune cells and thyroid cancer has produced conflicting results. Methods Based on the public available genome-wide association studies summary statistics, we performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to evaluate the causal association between 731 immune phenotypes (including median fluorescence intensities, absolute cell counts, relative cell counts, and morphological parameters) and thyroid cancer. The inverse variance weighting method was employed to investigate the causal relationship between exposure and outcome. Moreover, multiple sensitivity analyses, such as MR-Egger, weighted median, and MR-PRESSO, were simultaneously applied to reinforce the final results. Results After false discovery rate correction, four immunophenotypes were found to be significantly associated with a decreased risk of thyroid cancer. And six immunophenotypes were significantly associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer. Conclusions Our study has demonstrated the close connection between immune cells and thyroid cancer by genetic means, thus providing guidance for future clinical research.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12672-025-02249-0Thyroid cancerImmune cellsCausal associationGWASMendelian randomization
spellingShingle Shurong Wang
Zhouyu Fang
Wenjin Xiao
Ying Xie
Yueyue Zhang
Zhihua Liu
Causal role of immune cells in thyroid cancer: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study
Discover Oncology
Thyroid cancer
Immune cells
Causal association
GWAS
Mendelian randomization
title Causal role of immune cells in thyroid cancer: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study
title_full Causal role of immune cells in thyroid cancer: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study
title_fullStr Causal role of immune cells in thyroid cancer: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study
title_full_unstemmed Causal role of immune cells in thyroid cancer: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study
title_short Causal role of immune cells in thyroid cancer: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study
title_sort causal role of immune cells in thyroid cancer a two sample mendelian randomization study
topic Thyroid cancer
Immune cells
Causal association
GWAS
Mendelian randomization
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s12672-025-02249-0
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