Low HDL cholesterol as a marker of increased breast cancer risk in premenopausal women
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High premenopausal estrogen levels are inversely associated with low HDL cholesterol, whereas obesity is associated with low HDL cholesterol and increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. The aim of this study was to examine the possible association of low plasma HDL cholesterol with incidence of breast cancer using data from the longitudinal biracial Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC) cohort. During the follow-up period (1987-2000), 359 cases of incident breast cancer were observed among the 7575 females of the ARIC cohort. Multiple variable-adjusted analyses revealed that whilst there was no association of low baseline HDL cholesterol with incident breast cancer in the group as a whole, a modest association was found among women who were premenopausal at baseline. However, in women who were postmenopausal at baseline, no such association was found. Low HDL cholesterol among premenopausal women may thus be considered as a marker for increased risk of breast cancer.
Abstract
