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Serum total cholesterol and the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal Korean women

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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate an association between serum total cholesterol level and breast cancer risk, for which inconsistent findings have been reported in spite of the role of serum cholesterol as a precursor to a breast cancer-related sex steroid hormone.

Methods

Postmenopausal Korean women (n = 170,374), categorized into four groups by quartiles of cholesterol level, were followed up for occurrence of breast cancer from 1993 to 2003. Relative risks were assessed by Cox proportional hazard analysis.

Results

A positive association between cholesterol level and breast cancer risk was found with 31% greater age-adjusted risk of breast cancer in the highest cholesterol group (≥5.95 mmol/l) than that in the lowest cholesterol group (<4.63 mmol/l). The strength of association was reduced slightly but persisted after the adjustment for reproductive and behavioral covariates. However, the association further attenuated and the positive trend was no longer significant when BMI was additionally adjusted (p-trend, 0.0684). Stratified analysis by BMI showed that the risk of breast cancer increased with increasing cholesterol level only in normal BMI (<25 kg/m2) group, but the interaction term was not significant.

Conclusion

Serum total cholesterol level is not associated with the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal Korean women.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the Samsung Biomedical Research Institute (#SBRI C-A7-416-1), National Cancer Center (# 0610552-2), Ministry of Science and Technology, Korea (National R&D project grant M1-0306-03-0000), and Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea (#01-PJ1-PG1-01CH10-0007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Preventive Medicine, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan, South Korea

    Mina Ha

  2. Department of Epidemiology, The Graduate School of Public Health and Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

    Joohon Sung

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

    Joohon Sung

  4. Department of Family Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, and Center for Clinical Research, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, SungKyunKwan University School of Medicine, 50 Irwondong, Gangnamgu, Seoul, 135-710, South Korea

    Yun-Mi Song

Authors
  1. Mina Ha
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  2. Joohon Sung
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Correspondence to Yun-Mi Song.

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Ha, M., Sung, J. & Song, YM. Serum total cholesterol and the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal Korean women. Cancer Causes Control 20, 1055–1060 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-009-9301-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-009-9301-7

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