Prostate cancer is the most common malignant tumor of male genitourinary system, its morbidity and mortality increase year by year, and has become a public health problem affecting male health. Mendelian randomization （MR） analysis has been widely used in epidemiological etiology inference in recent years. Compared with general observational studies, it avoids the interference of confounding factors and has clear causal sequence. The judgment of disease risk factors is more helpful for early intervention and clinical prevention and treatment of diseases. This paper reviewed the application status of MR analysis in the etiology of prostate cancer, and summarized the causal relationship between the microscopic exposure of vitamin D, telomere length, inorganic salts, testosterone level, lipids and proteins, amino acids, intestinal flora, as well as the macroscopic exposure of underlying diseases, drug use, dietary factors, life and behavior habits, and adolescent development and prostate cancer. It provides the basis for formulating prevention and treatment strategy of prostate cancer from the perspective of risk factors. At the same time, MR analysis in the field of prostate cancer also has shortcomings such as bias in population stratification, difference in data sample size affecting outcome, confounding factors when incorporating aggregated data, and failure to clarify the mechanism of exposure affecting outcome. Future studies should focus on solving these problems.
Keywords: prostate cancer; Mendelian randomization; etiology.