Healthy lifestyles, genetic modifiers, and colorectal cancer risk: a prospective cohort study in the UK Biobank

ABSTRACT

Background

Both genetic and lifestyle factors play an etiologic role in colorectal cancer (CRC).

Objectives

We evaluated potential gene–environment interactions in CRC risk.

Methods

We used data from 346,297 participants in the UK Biobank cohort. Healthy lifestyle scores (HLSs) were constructed using 8 lifestyle factors, primarily according to the American Cancer Society guidelines, and were categorized into unhealthy, intermediate, and healthy groups. A polygenic risk score (PRS) was created using 95 genetic risk variants identified by genome-wide association studies of CRC and was categorized by tertile. Cox models were used to estimate the HRs and 95% CIs of CRC risk associated with the HLS and PRS.

Results

During a median follow-up of 5.8 y, 2066 incident cases of CRC were identified. Healthier HLSs were associated with reduced risk of CRC in a dose–response manner. The risk reduction was more apparent among those with high PRS (HRhealthy vs. unhealthy HLS1: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.43, 0.79 for men and 0.71; 0.58, 0.85 for men and women combined) than those with low PRS. Although no multiplicative interactions were identified, the HLS1 and PRS showed a significant additive interaction (P = 0.02 for all participants combined, 0.04 for men). In analyses including all participants, the adjusted CRC cumulative risk from age 40 to 75 y was 6.40% for those with high PRS/unhealthy HLS1, with a relative excess risk due to interaction of 0.58 (95% CI: 0.06, 1.10), compared with 2.09% among those with low PRS/healthy HLS1. This pattern was more apparent among those who reported not having received any bowel screening before baseline.

Conclusions

Although the observational nature of the study precludes proof of causality, our findings suggest that individuals with a high genetic susceptibility could benefit more substantially than those with a low genetic risk from lifestyle modification in reducing CRC risk.