Genetic factors, adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors, and risk of bladder cancer

• Published in: BMC cancer Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 1 - 965
• Main Authors: He, Qiangsheng, Wu, Siqing, Zhou, Ying, Liu, Yuchen, Xia, Bin, Li, Wenjing, Zhao, Jinyu, Mi, Ningning, Xie, Peng, Qin, Xiwen, Yuan, Jinqiu, Pan, Yihang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central Ltd 12.10.2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Biobanks; Bladder cancer; Body weight; Cancer research; Diet; Genealogy; Genetic aspects; Genetic factors; Genetic risk; Health behavior; Healthy lifestyle; Interactive computer systems; Lifestyles; Medical research; Physical activity; Polygenic risk score; Prevention; Questionnaires; Risk factors; Risk groups; Single-nucleotide polymorphism; Smoking; Sociodemographics; Tea; China; England; Scotland; United Kingdom > UK; Wales
• ISSN: 1471-2407; 1471-2407
• DOI: 10.1186/s12885-023-11455-4

Background Genetic and lifestyle factors both contribute to the pathogenesis of bladder cancer, but the extent to which the increased genetic risk can be mitigated by adhering to a healthy lifestyle remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the association of combined lifestyle factors with bladder cancer risk within genetic risk groups. Methods We conducted a prospective study of 375 998 unrelated participants of European ancestry with genotype and lifestyle data and free of cancer from the UK biobank. We generated a polygenic risk score (PRS) using 16 single nucleotide polymorphisms and a healthy lifestyle score based on body weight, smoking status, physical activity, and diet. Cox models were fitted to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of genetic and lifestyle factors on bladder cancer. Results During a median follow-up of 11.8 years, 880 participants developed bladder cancer. Compared with those with low PRS, participants with intermediate and high PRS had a higher risk of bladder cancer (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.07-1.56; HR 1.63, 95% CI 1.32-2.02, respectively). An optimal lifestyle was associated with an approximately 50% lower risk of bladder cancer than a poor lifestyle across all genetic strata. Participants with a high genetic risk and a poor lifestyle had 3.6-fold elevated risk of bladder cancer compared with those with a low genetic risk and an optimal lifestyle (HR 3.63, 95% CI 2.23 -5.91). Conclusions Adhering to a healthy lifestyle could substantially reduce the bladder cancer risk across all genetic strata, even for high-genetic risk individuals. For all populations, adopting an intermediate lifestyle is more beneficial than a poor one, and adhering to an optimal lifestyle is the ideal effective strategy for bladder cancer prevention. Keywords: Genetic risk, Polygenic risk score, Healthy lifestyle, Bladder cancer