Serum Cholesterol and Cancer Mortality in Japanese Civil Service Workers : Findings from a Nested Case-control Study

Abstract

To examine an association between serum cholesterol level and cancer mortality, a nested case-control study was conducted among 5, 796 civil service workers in Japan who underwent periodic health examination. One-hundred and thirty-one deaths (cases), including 73 cancer deaths, were identified in the study period from 1980/1981 to September 1, 1991. Two controls were randomly selected for each case, matched for age, sex, year of examination and job status. As a major result, an increase in serum cholesterol of 10 mg/dl significantly reduced cancer risk by 0.91 times in men, but not in women. This reduction of cancer risk in men was found not to be confounded by body mass index (BMI), smoking habits, and drinking habits. No significant association could be found between serum cholesterol level and specific sites of cancer. Separate analysis by follow-up period significantly revealed an inverse association between serum cholesterol and cancer deaths in men in 6 years or later after serum measurement. This inverse association was believed not to be ascribable to an effect of a preclinical cancer. J Epidemiol, 1993; 3 : 99-107.