The influence of human papillomavirus infection on risk of colorectal cancer:a mendelian randomization study

Background: Despite the well-established link between human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical and anogenital cancers, there is ongoing debate regarding the relationship between HPV and colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods We evaluated the causal connection between HPV infection and CRC utilizing Mendelian randomization(MR) analyses.Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) datasets for HPV were obtained from the IEU Open GWAS project. A large summary of colorectal adenocarcinoma and colorectal cancer data from the FinnGen database was used as the outcome. Results Our analysis revealed a significant association between genetically predicted HPV-16 infection and the risk of paternal colorectal adenocarcinoma (HPV-16: OR 1.058, 95% CI 1.013 to1.102; p = 0.011), as well as CRC (HPV-16: OR 1.045 95% CI 1.005 to 1.085; p = 0.025). However, similar results were not found in the subtype of HPV-18, colorectal adenocarcinoma (OR: 0.955, 95% CI: 0.893–1.0022; p = 0.184), and CRC (OR: 0.949, 95% CI: 0.889–1.0011 ; p = 0.106). Conclusion These findings provide compelling evidence for a causal effect of HPV-16 on the development of CRC. Further investigations into the underlying mechanisms and elucidation of this association are necessary to identify viable interventions for the prevention and treatment of HPV-16-associated CRC.