Correlation between hemoglobin and the risk of common malignant tumors: a 1999–2020 retrospective analysis and causal association analysis

Abstract

Abstract Background The role of hemoglobin (HGB) in common malignant tumors remains unclear. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted to identify the correlation between HGB levels and risk of 15 malignant tumors using 50,085 samples from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Mendelian Randomization analyses (MRAs) were performed based on genome-wide association study data to assess the causal relationship between HGB levels and these malignant tumors using more than 700,000 samples. The robustness of the MRA results was confirmed through various analytical methods. Fifty-six in-house samples were used to investigate the correlation between HGB levels and the prognosis in prostate cancer (PRCA) using the Kaplan-Meier curve. Results High HGB levels were associated with a higher risk for patients with cervix cancer, melanoma, and non-melanoma skin cancer (OR > 1.000, p 0.05), suggesting the robustness of the results. The results derived from the in-house data revealed a relationship between higher HGB values and a more favorable prognosis in PRCA (p < 0.05). Conclusion High circulating HGB levels may play a protective prognostic role for PRCA and serve as a protective factor against the occurrence of PRCA.

Keywords

• Cancer
• Risk factor
• Biomarker
• Mendelian randomization analysis