Total Cholesterol and Body Mass Index in Relation to 40-Year Cancer Mortality (The Corfu Cohort of the Seven Countries Study)

Abstract

Purpose: We evaluated risk factors of cancer mortality based on a 40-year follow-up of the Corfu cohort (Seven Countries Study). Material and Methods: The population studied in this analysis consisted of 529 rural men (49 F 6 years old) enrolled in 1961. Since then, periodic visits every 5 years were made to define the causes of death of the participants. Cox proportional hazards models evaluated various risk factors in relation to cancer mortality. Results: The death rate at the end of the follow-up was 87.1% (i.e., 461 deaths in 529 participants). Of those deaths, 118 (25.6%) were because of cancer (30 deaths were due to cancer of trachea, bronchus, and lung, and the rest were due to other malignant neoplasms). Cancer was the second cause of death in this cohort, after coronary heart disease. Age (hazard ratio, 1.05 per year; P < 0.05), smoking (hazard ratio, 1.97; P < 0.01), total serum cholesterol levels (hazard ratio, 0.95 per 10 mg/dL; P < 0.05), and body mass index (hazard ratio, 0.93 per 1 kg/m 2 ; P < 0.05) showed a significant association with cancer deaths after controlling for physical activity status and anthropometric indices. It should be noted that the protective effect of total cholesterol on cancer mortality was observed only between 183 and 218 mg/dL baseline levels. Conclusion: Cancer was one of the leading causes of death in this cohort. Smoking was associated with increased risk of cancer, whereas moderate total serum cholesterol and increased body and mass index seemed to have a protective effect on 40-year cancer mortality. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2005;14(7):1797 -801)

Association of Dyslipidemia with Renal Cell Carcinoma: A 1∶2 Matched Case-Control Study

“…Several studies have reported that cancer incidence [17], [18] and cancer mortality [19], [20] were lower in men with high baseline levels of TC. While this inverse association was seen in the majority of previous studies, others found cancer risk showed no relation at all [21], or a U-shaped association, with TC levels [22], [23].…”

Gene Expression Changes in Spleens and Livers of Tumour-Bearing Mice Suggest Delayed Inflammation and Attenuated Cachexia in Response to Oil Palm Phenolics

“…Decreased serum cholesterol may also indicate a poor prognosis in liver cancer patients [71]. The paradox of the protective effect of total cholesterol levels on cancer risk, however, does not represent an etiological link (low cholesterol as a cause of cancer), but may reflect the advance of the clinical course of cancer (low cholesterol as an effect of cancer) [72]. In fact, total cholesterol synthesis was found to be lower in Yoshida AH130 ascites hepatoma tumour-bearing mice compared to controls [73].…”

Serum low-density lipoprotein levels correlate with survival in advanced stage epithelial ovarian cancers

“…For example, two reports from Scotland and the Netherlands could not identify any consistent significant trends between total cholesterol and deaths due to gastrointestinal, breast, lung, or ovary in their female cohorts [9,10]. Similarly, in a subcohort of Greek men from an international prospective study conducted from 1960 to 2000 (the Seven Countries study), an analysis of total serum cholesterol did not reveal any associations between higher values and overall cancer mortality [11]. In contrast, a Swedish health screening trial of 46,570 women, initiated in the 1960s, found that the relative risk of cancer mortality decreased with increases in serum cholesterol [12].…”