China: A recent study has reported that metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is related to an increased risk of a set of cancers (both intrahepatic and extrahepatic cancers), however, the effect varies substantially by the site. The findings of the study, published in the journal Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental, indicate that in the current scheme of cancer prevention, MAFLD deserves higher priority.
MAFLD is a significant health issue that is related closely to multiple metabolic dysfunctions. There is no information on the association between MAFLD and cancer. To throw light on the same, Zhenqiu Liu, Fudan University Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, Taizhou. China and colleagues aimed to examine the associations of MAFLD with incident events in 24 specific cancers.
For this purpose, participants from the UK Biobank study were diagnosed for the presence of MAFLD at baseline. In total 352,911 individuals (37.2% with MAFLD) were included out of which 23,345 developed cancers.
Following were the study's key findings:
· Compared with non-MAFLD, MAFLD was significantly associated with 10 of the 24 examined cancers, including corpus uteri (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.36), gallbladder (2.20), liver (1.81), kidney (1.77), thyroid (1.69), esophagus (1.48), pancreas (1.31), bladder (1.26), breast (1.19), and colorectal and anus cancers (1.14).
· The associations of MAFLD with liver, esophageal, pancreatic, colorectal and anal, and bladder cancers and malignant melanoma were strengthened in males, and associations with kidney, thyroid, and lung cancers were increased in females.
· The associations of MAFLD with the risk of liver, kidney, and thyroid cancers remained significant after further adjusting for the waist circumference or body mass index and the number of metabolic syndrome components based on the main models.
· The risk-increasing allele of PNPLA3 rs738409 significantly amplified the association of MAFLD with the risk of liver and kidney cancers.
The researchers concluded, "MAFLD is associated with an increased risk of a set of cancers, but the effect substantially varies by site. MAFLD deserves higher priority in the current scheme of cancer prevention."
Reference:
The study titled, "Metabolic dysfunction–associated fatty liver disease and the risk of 24 specific cancers," was published in the journal Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2021.154955