Family history of cancer related to cholesterol level in young adults

Cancer family history was quantified in 229 subjects (122 female, 107 male) screened for total serum cholesterol as seventh graders in 1972-1973 and repeated nine years later as young adults. Division of the subjects on the basis of cholesterol quintile resulted in significantly lower cancer family history scores in participants with persistently low total serum cholesterol levels and a significant excess of cancer mortality in parents and grandparents of young adult males with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels in the upper quintile. A trend toward increased cancer in families of young adults who were smokers was independent of the cholesterol levels. It is suggested that such a quantification of family history score will be more useful than simply designating the family history as positive or negative in future modeling schemes for predicting risk.