Genetic associations between pan-cancer and phenotype of COVID-19: A bidirectional Bayesian Weighted Mendelian randomization study

BackgroundPrevious studies had taken attention to the association between coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and cancer risk. However, they usually focused on single population such as European.MethodsWe used bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) and Bayesian weighted MR (BWMR) to explore the causal associations between the 25 types of COVID-19 exposures of different regions and 33 different types of cancers of the European population. To assess horizontal pleiotropy, we employed MR-Egger regression and MR-PRESSO global tests, with the Cochrane Q-test utilized to measure the presence of heterogeneity.ResultsWe found malignant neoplasm of bladder, malignant neoplasm of thyroid gland, and neuroendocrine tumor and carcinoma of lung were associated with the increased risk of critically ill COVID-19 in African, while, malignant neoplasm of esophagus had negative impact. For the east Asian, we found malignant neoplasm of bronchus and lung was associated with the decreased risk. Malignant neoplasm of breast had positive impact on critically ill COVID-19 in European and malignant neoplasm of testis had a negative. Increased risk of hospitalized COVID-19 (hospitalized vs not hospitalized) was associated with malignant neoplasm of skin. Meanwhile, malignant neoplasm of brain, small and non−small cell lung cancer, malignant melanoma, malignant neoplasm of oral cavity, malignant neoplasm of prostate, mature T/NK−cell lymphomas and malignant neoplasm of ovary were linked to the increased risk of diverse adverse response of BNT162b2 vaccine (malignant neoplasm of brain had negative impact on nausea). While, malignant neoplasm of pancreas, malignant neoplasm of testis, and malignant neoplasm of stomach were associated with decreased risk.ConclusionsTogether, we found the association of 19 types of cancers and 15 phenotypes of COVID-19 linked to susceptibility, severity, hospitalization, vaccination efficacy and vaccination safety.Legal entity responsible for the studyQ. Xu.FundingHas not received any funding.DisclosureAll authors have declared no conflicts of interest.