Serum cholesterol and cancer--a retrospective case-control study.

The time relationship between low serum cholesterol and the subsequent development of malignant neoplasms was examined in a case-control study of 100 cases of cancer death and 393 controls. The serum cholesterol levels were followed by repeated blood analysis over a 16-year period. An association between low serum cholesterol and cancer death was found particularly for malignant neoplasms of the large intestine and rectum. This relationship diminished 7-16 years prior to death suggesting that the low serum cholesterol levels were an effect of the cancer in an early stage and not vice versa.