Risk of stomach cancer in association with serum cholesterol and beta-lipoprotein.

The relation between serum levels of cholesterol and beta-lipoprotein (BLP) and stomach cancer risk was studied in a Swedish cohort of 92,710 individuals. The cohort was examined with a single measurement of cholesterol and BLP between 1963 and 1965 and followed up in the Swedish Cancer Registry until 1983. During the follow-up period 576 stomach cancers were reported. The risk of stomach cancer was negatively correlated to serum levels of cholesterol with a relative risk (RR) of 0.85 for every 40 mg/dl increase of cholesterol (p less than 0.001) and to BLP with an RR of 0.90 for every 3 units increase of BLP (p less than 0.01) when analysed one at a time. In a multiple regression analysis, however, only the relation to cholesterol remained statistically significant. The risk association seemed to be most pronounced between the third and fifth years of follow-up.