Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer. Here we assessed the relationship between pancreatic cancer and two distinct measures of obesity, namely total adiposity, using BMI, versus abdominal adiposity, using BMI adjusted waist-to-hip ratio (WHRadjBMI) by utilising polygenic scores (PGS) and Mendelian randomisation (MR) analyses. We constructed z-score weighted PGS for BMI and WHRadjBMI using publicly available data and tested for their association with pancreatic cancer defined in UK biobank (UKBB). Using publicly available summary statistics, we then performed bi-directional MR analyses between the two obesity traits and pancreatic cancer. PGSBMI was significantly (multiple testing-corrected) associated with pancreatic cancer (OR[95%CI] = 1.0804[1.025-1.14], P = 0.0037). The significance of association declined after T2D adjustment (OR[95%CI] = 1.073[1.018-1.13], P = 0.00904). PGSWHRadjBMI association with pancreatic cancer was at the margin of statistical significance (OR[95%CI] = 1.047[0.99-1.104], P = 0.086). T2D adjustment effectively lost any suggestive association of PGSWHRadjBMI with pancreatic cancer (OR[95%CI] = 1.039[0.99-1.097], P = 0.14). MR analyses showed a nominally significant causal effect of WHRadjBMI on pancreatic cancer (OR[95%CI] = 1.00095[1.00011-1.0018], P = 0.027) but not for BMI on pancreatic cancer. Overall, we show that abdominal adiposity measured using WHRadjBMI, may be a more important causal risk factor for pancreatic cancer compared to total adiposity, with T2D being a potential driver of this relationship.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
2
5%
Business, Management and Accounting
1
3%
Decision Sciences
1
3%
Other
1
3%
Unknown
24
60%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 8. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 26 July 2023.
All research outputs
#6,194,635
of 32,499,582 outputs
Outputs from European Journal of Human Genetics
#1,340
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Outputs of similar age
#90,823
of 420,692 outputs
Outputs of similar age from European Journal of Human Genetics
#21
of 55 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 32,499,582 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 80th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,333 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 10.2. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 69% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 420,692 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 78% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 55 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 61% of its contemporaries.
