The second novel locus, 14q22.1, was also found to be inversely associated, where increased genetically regulated gene expression of PYGL was associated with decreased CRC risk, showing an OR of 0.90 (95% CI 0.85–0.96) in the discovery dataset (discovery P = 2.3 × 10− 4) as well as in the replication dataset (P = 7.9 × 10− 4). Here, PYGL is linked to colorectal carcinoma.