Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Mar;13(5):e7067.
doi: 10.1002/cam4.7067.

Causal associations between atrial fibrillation and breast cancer: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization analysis

Zhaoting Gong  1 , Mengjin Hu  2 , Yuejin Yang  1 , Chunlin Yin  2
Affiliations

Causal associations between atrial fibrillation and breast cancer: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization analysis

Zhaoting Gong et al. Cancer Med. 2024 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Previous observational studies indicated that atrial fibrillation may increase the risk of breast cancer. Following a breast cancer diagnosis, the chance of developing atrial fibrillation may increase as well. However, it is uncertain whether the link is causal or just due to confounding factors.

Objective: Using bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis, we sought to assess the bidirectional causal relationship between atrial fibrillation and breast cancer from a genetic level.

Methods: Large genome-wide association studies yielded summary-level data for atrial fibrillation and breast cancer. The preliminary estimate was inverse variance weighted (IVW) under a random model. MR-Egger, weighted median, simple mode, weighted mode, and multivariable MR (adjusting body mass index, smoking, and alcohol drinking) were performed as sensitivity analyses.

Results: Genetically predicted atrial fibrillation presented no statistically significant association with overall breast cancer (odds ratio [OR] = 1.00; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.97-1.04; p = 0.79), estrogen receptor (ER) + (OR = 1.00; 95% CI: 0.96-1.03; p = 0.89) or ER- subtypes (OR = 1.00; 95% CI: 0.97-1.04; p = 0.89). Similarly, genetically predicted overall breast cancer (OR = 1.01; 95% CI: 0.98-1.04; p = 0.37), ER+ (OR = 1.02; 95% CI: 0.99-1.05; p = 0.16) or ER- (OR = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.93-1.02; p = 0.32) subtypes had no causal effect on atrial fibrillation. Sensitivity analyses yielded similar results. Individual single nucleotide polymorphism had little effect on the total estimate. We did not observe any evidence of horizontal pleiotropy.

Conclusions: Our bidirectional MR studies revealed that there may be no causal links between atrial fibrillation and breast cancer.

Keywords: Mendelian randomization; atrial fibrillation; breast cancer; causal association.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Mendelian randomization model.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Associations between atrial fibrillation and breast cancer. CI, confidence interval; ER, estrogen receptor; OR, odds ratio; SNP, single nucleotide polymorphism.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Funnel plot of the associations between atrial fibrillation and breast cancer. A: Atrial fibrillation → Breast cancer; B: Atrial fibrillation → ER+ Breast cancer; C: Atrial fibrillation → ER− Breast cancer; D: Breast cancer → Atrial fibrillation; E: ER+ Breast cancer → Atrial fibrillation; F: ER− Breast cancer → Atrial fibrillation. ER, estrogen receptor.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Maslov DL, Trifonova OP, Lichtenberg S, et al. Blood plasma metabolome profiling at different stages of renal cell carcinoma. Cancers (Basel). 2022;15(1):140. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schnabel RB, Yin X, Gona P, et al. 50 year trends in atrial fibrillation prevalence, incidence, risk factors, and mortality in the Framingham heart study: a cohort study. Lancet. 2015;386(9989):154‐162. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hindricks G, Potpara T, Dagres N, et al. 2020 ESC guidelines for the diagnosis and management of atrial fibrillation developed in collaboration with the European Association for Cardio‐Thoracic Surgery (EACTS): the task force for the diagnosis and management of atrial fibrillation of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) developed with the special contribution of the European heart rhythm association (EHRA) of the ESC. Eur Heart J. 2021;42(5):373‐498. - PubMed
    1. Marijon E, Le Heuzey JY, Connolly S, et al. Causes of death and influencing factors in patients with atrial fibrillation: a competing‐risk analysis from the randomized evaluation of long‐term anticoagulant therapy study. Circulation. 2013;128(20):2192‐2201. - PubMed
    1. Gulati M, Mulvagh SL. The connection between the breast and heart in a woman: breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. Clin Cardiol. 2018;41(2):253‐257. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances