Causal association between urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio and risk of colorectal cancer: A two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Previous observational studies have investigated the association between urinary albumin excretion and the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), but the results have been inconsistent. This study aimed to explore the causal association between urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) and CRC risk through a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. The genome-wide association study (GWAS) data of ACR (n = 382,500) and CRC (CRC: 6,509 cases and 287,137 controls) were obtained from the IEU OpenGWAS project website and the FinnGen database, respectively. The TwoSampleMR and MR-PRESSO R packages were used to search for and analyze genetic variations that served as instrumental variables for ACR. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated using the inverse-variance weighted method, MR-Egger, and weighted median. Genetically predicted ACR was not associated with CRC risk (all P > 0.05). Further analysis based on the site of onset (colon or rectum) also did not show a significant association (all P > 0.05). MR-PRESSO, MR-Egger regression and leave-one-out sensitivity analysis all indicated that the current results were robust and reliable. These findings suggest that ACR does not affect CRC risk and may not be used as a marker of CRC risk in clinical practice. However, relevant studies especially in ethnically diverse populations are still needed to confirm the current findings.