The IRS1 rs2943641 variant and risk of future cancer among morbidly obese individuals

Abstract

Context: Obesity and insulin resistance are risk factors for cancer development. The IRS1 rs2943641 genetic variant has been widely associated with insulin resistance.

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine whether the IRS1 rs2943641 associates with cancer incidence in obese individuals.

Design, setting and patients: The IRS1 rs2943641 was genotyped in participants from the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study, an intervention trial on the effect of bariatric surgery on mortality and morbidity compared with usual care and in the population-based Malmö Diet and Cancer (MDC) cohort. In both studies, the median follow-up for cancer incidence was about 15 years.

Intervention and main outcome measure: Cancer incidence was assessed in both the SOS and the MDC cohorts through national and local registers.

Results: The IRS1 T allele was associated with lower insulin resistance in both the SOS and the MDC studies. A lower cancer incidence was found in T allele carriers from the SOS control group (hazard ratio [HR] 0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.62-0.96; P = .021) and was restricted to morbidly obese individuals (HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.50-0.91; P = .011). No evidence of such association was detected in the surgery group (interaction P = .005). In the MDC cohort, a nonsignificant tendency for lower cancer incidence in T allele carriers was observed only in morbidly obese individuals. A meta-analysis of morbidly obese individuals (body mass index > 40 kg/m(2)) from the two cohorts strengthened the evidence for the association (HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.50-0.87; P = .004).

Conclusions: Our results suggest that the T allele of rs2943641 near IRS1 may associate with lower cancer incidence in morbidly obese individuals.