Abstract
Internationally there is a correlation between the mortality-rates for colon cancer and coronary heart-disease. Dietary fat is suspected as a common ætiological factor, perhaps operating in colon cancer through the transformation of bile-salts into carcinogens by certain intestinal bacteria. This evidence prompts a search for associations between the two diseases within individual populations, and the present report analyses the relation between blood-cholesterol level and the development of colon cancer. Data from six prospective studies of coronary heart-disease in men have been pooled, yielding 90 cases of colon cancer. The initial levels of blood-cholesterol in these men were found surprisingly to be lower than the expected values, the median deviation being -0·26 standard-deviation units (corresponding to a little more than 10 mg. er 100 ml.), p<0·05. This tendency was not significantly correlated with the interval from screening to death, nor was it shared by cases of other alimentary carcinomas.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 181-183 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | The Lancet |
| Volume | 303 |
| Issue number | 7850 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 9 1974 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The " Seven Countries " study was supported by U.S.P.H.S.
