Associations between serum uric acid and hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancer: A cohort study

Chong-Fei Huang; Jun-Jun Huang; Ning-Ning Mi; Yan-Yan Lin; Qiang-Sheng He; Ya-Wen Lu; Ping Yue; Bing Bai; Jin-Duo Zhang; Chao Zhang; Teng Cai; Wen-Kang Fu; Long Gao; Xun Li; Jin-Qiu Yuan; Wen-Bo Meng

doi:10.3748/wjg.v26.i44.7061

Associations between serum uric acid and hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancer: A cohort study

World J Gastroenterol. 2020 Nov 28;26(44):7061-7075. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i44.7061.

Authors

Chong-Fei Huang¹, Jun-Jun Huang², Ning-Ning Mi¹, Yan-Yan Lin³, Qiang-Sheng He⁴, Ya-Wen Lu¹, Ping Yue¹, Bing Bai³, Jin-Duo Zhang³, Chao Zhang¹, Teng Cai¹, Wen-Kang Fu¹, Long Gao¹, Xun Li⁵, Jin-Qiu Yuan⁴, Wen-Bo Meng¹

Affiliations

¹ The First Clinical Medical School, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China.
² Scientific Research and Planning Department, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China.
³ Special Minimally Invasive Surgery Department, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China.
⁴ Clinical Research Center and Scientific Research Center, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, Guangdong Province, China.
⁵ Gansu Province Institute of Hepatopancreatobiliary, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China.

Abstract

Background: Uric acid is the end product of purine metabolism. Previous studies have found that serum uric acid (SUA) levels are associated with the total cancer risk. However, due to the dual effect of uric acid on cancer, the relationship between the SUA levels and most specific-site cancer remains unclear.

Aim: To investigate the associations between the SUA levels and incidence of hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancer.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 444462 participants free of cancer from the UK Biobank were included. The SUA levels were measured at baseline, and the incidence of hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancer was determined by contacting the cancer registry. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between the SUA levels and hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancer were investigated using multiple adjusted Cox regression models adjusted for potential confounders.

Results: In total, 920 participants developed liver, gallbladder, biliary tract or pancreatic cancer during a median of 6.6 yrs of follow-up. We found that the HR of pancreatic cancer in the highest SUA group was 1.77 (95%CI: 1.29-2.42) compared with that in the lowest group. After stratifying by gender, we further found that SUA was associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer only among the females (highest quartile vs lowest quartile HR 2.04, 95%CI: 1.35-3.08). Among the males, the SUA levels were positively associated with the gallbladder cancer risk (highest quartile vs lowest quartile HR 3.09, 95%CI: 1.28-7.46), but a U-shaped association with the liver cancer risk was observed (P-nonlinear = 0.03).

Conclusion: SUA is likely to have gender-specific effects on hepatobiliary-pancreatic cancer. High SUA levels are a risk factor for pancreatic cancer in females and gallbladder cancer in males. A U-shaped association with the liver cancer risk was identified.

Keywords: Biliary tract neoplasms; Cohort studies; Gallbladder neoplasms; Liver neoplasms; Pancreatic neoplasms; Uric acid.

MeSH terms

Cohort Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Pancreatic Neoplasms* / epidemiology
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors
Uric Acid*

Substances

Uric Acid

Abstract

MeSH terms

Substances

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