Serum cholesterol level and the risk of colorectal cancer.

The relation between cancer and serum cholesterol has been studied by many scientists. In the analyses of cancers of the colon and the rectum, both negative and positive relations to cholesterol have been described. The divergent results may, to some extent, be explained by the use of different statistical methods or non-comparable cohorts. A short review and discussion of some studies dealing with the question of the relationship between serum cholesterol and risk of cancer of the colon and the rectum is presented.