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Erythrocyte membrane fatty acid composition, serum lipids, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma risk in a nested case–control study: the multiethnic cohort

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Abstract

Purpose

Composition of dietary fatty acid intake, which influences cytokine production, may contribute to the development of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). Serum lipid levels may serve as biomarkers of inflammation associated with NHL risk.

Methods

We conducted a case–control analysis (275 cases and 549 controls) nested within the Multiethnic Cohort Study (whites, Japanese Americans, Latinos, African Americans, and Native Hawaiians) to examine the association of prediagnostic, erythrocyte membrane phospholipid fatty acid composition, and serum cholesterol and triglyceride (TG) concentrations with the risk of NHL. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) by tertiles of biomarker concentrations.

Results

Higher total saturated fatty acids (SFA) were associated with an increase in NHL risk (ORT3 vs. T1 = 1.57 [95 % CI: 1.03–2.39]; p trend = 0.01), whereas no associations were detected for total n−3 or n−6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Inverse associations were observed for total cholesterol (TC; OR T3 vs. T1 = 0.51 [95 % CI: 0.35–0.74]; p trend  < 0.0001) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C; OR T3 vs. T1 = 0.47 [95 % CI: 0.31–0.71]; p trend  = 0.0001) but not for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or TG. Adjustment for the use of lipid-lowering medication did not modify the results substantially.

Conclusions

This prospective biomarker investigation offers supportive evidence for an adverse effect of higher erythrocyte membrane SFA levels on NHL risk, but preclinical effects cannot be excluded. Inverse relations between prediagnostic, circulating TC and HDL-C and NHL risk may be due to reverse causation or a result of protective actions of these lipids and lipoproteins.

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Acknowledgments

The Multiethnic Cohort Study is supported by National Cancer Institute grants R37 CA 54281 and P01 CA 033619 (PI: L Kolonel) and U01 CA 63464 (PI: B Henderson). NJO and SMC were supported by a postdoctoral fellowship on grant R25 CA 90956. The tumor registries in Hawaii and Los Angeles are supported by NCI contracts N01 PC 35137 and N01 PC 35139, respectively. Performance of the GC and serum lipid assays was supported in part by NCI award P30 CA71789. Cynthia Morrison is acknowledged for the technical performance of the lipid autoanalyzer assays.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Hawaii Cancer Center, 1236 Lauhala Street, Honolulu, HI, 96813, USA

    Yukiko Morimoto, Nicholas J. Ollberding, Adrian A. Franke, Lynne R. Wilkens, Marc T. Goodman, Brenda Y. Hernandez, Loïc Le Marchand, Laurence N. Kolonel & Gertraud Maskarinec

  2. Alberta Health Services–Cancer Care, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Shannon M. Conroy

  3. Center for Human Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Susanne M. Henning

  4. Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Brian E. Henderson

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  1. Yukiko Morimoto
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  2. Shannon M. Conroy
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  3. Nicholas J. Ollberding
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  11. Laurence N. Kolonel
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  12. Gertraud Maskarinec
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Correspondence to Yukiko Morimoto.

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Morimoto, Y., Conroy, S.M., Ollberding, N.J. et al. Erythrocyte membrane fatty acid composition, serum lipids, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma risk in a nested case–control study: the multiethnic cohort. Cancer Causes Control 23, 1693–1703 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-012-0048-1

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