Delaying age at first sexual intercourse provides protection against oral cavity cancer: a mendelian randomization study

• Published in: Frontiers in oncology Vol. 14; p. 1361527
• Main Authors: Sun, Ting, He, Xin, Chen, Xing, Huaqing, Yang, Zhang, Haimei, Zhao, Min, Du, Li, Zhao, Bin, Hou, Junping, Li, Xudong, Liu, Yu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 18.04.2024
• Subjects: epidemiology; malignant tumor; Mendelian randomization; Oncology; oral cavity cancer; sexual intercourse; epidemiology; Mendelian randomization; oral cavity cancer; malignant tumor; sexual intercourse
• ISSN: 2234-943X; 2234-943X
• DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1361527

To investigate whether age at first sexual intercourse could lead to any changes in the risk of oral cavity cancer. A two-sample mendelian randomization was conducted using genetic variants associated with age at first sexual intercourse in UK biobank as instrumental variables. Summary data of Northern American from a previous genome-wide association study aimed at oral cavity cancer was served as outcome. Three analytical methods: inverse variance-weighted, mendelian randomization Egger, and weighted median were used to perform the analysis, among which inverse variance-weighted was set as the primary method. Robustness of the results was assessed through Cochran Q test, mendelian randomization Egger intercept tests, MR PRESSO, leave one out analysis and funnel plot. The primary analysis provided substantial evidence of a positive causal relationship age at first sexual intercourse and the risk of oral cavity cancer (p = 0.0002), while a delayed age at first sexual intercourse would lead to a decreased risk of suffering oral cavity cancer (β = -1.013). The secondary outcomes confirmed the results (all β < 0) and all assessments supported the robustness, too (all > 0.05). The study demonstrates that a delayed sexual debut would provide protection against OCC, thus education on delaying sexual intercourse should be recommended.