Abstract
PURPOSE: The two-sample Mendelian randomization approach was used to assess the potential causal relationships between 33 oral microbes and salivary gland cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data used in this study were obtained from summary statistics of genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The instrumental variables included 33 known oral microbes, comprising a total of 39,117,105 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The outcome variable, major salivary gland cancer (MSGC), included 11,831,294 SNPs. Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted via inverse-variance weighted (IVW) as the primary method. To ensure the robustness of the results, Cochran's Q test, the MR-Egger intercept test, leave-one-out analysis, and reverse MR analysis were employed. RESULTS: The IVW analysis results indicated that the genus Alloprevotella (odds ratio [OR] = 1.267; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.037-1.549; p = 0.020) and the species Veillonella dispar (OR = 1.369; 95%CI = 1.081-1.734; p = 0.009) are statistically significant risk factors for the occurrence of MSGC. CONCLUSION: The genus Alloprevotella and the species Veillonella dispar have a positive causal relationship with major salivary gland cancer.