Metabolic syndrome and its component traits present gender-specific association with liver cancer risk: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Little is known on the gender-specific effect and potential role of non-linear associations between metabolic syndrome (MetS) components and liver cancer risk. We evaluated these associations based on the UK Biobank cohort. METHODS: We included 474,929 individuals without previous cancer based on the UK Biobank cohort. Gender-specific hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence interval (CIs) were calculated by Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusting for potential confounders. Non-linear associations for individual MetS components were assessed by the restricted cubic spline method. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 6.6 years, we observed 276 cases of liver cancer (175 men, 101 women). MetS [HR 1.48, 95% CI 1.27–1.72] and central obesity [HR 1.65, 95% CI 1.18–2.31] were associated with higher risk of liver cancer in men but not in women. Participants with hyperglycaemia has higher risk of liver cancer. High waist circumference and blood glucose were dose-dependently associated with increased liver cancer risk in both genders. For high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (both genders) and blood pressure (women), U-shaped associations were observed. Low HDL cholesterol (< 1.35 mmol/L) in men and high HDL cholesterol in women (> 1.52 mmol/L) were associated with increased liver cancer risk. CONCLUSIONS: MetS components showed gender-specific linear or U- shaped associations with the risk of liver cancer. Our study might provide evidence for individualized management of MetS for preventing liver cancer. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-021-08760-1.