Constant Association between Low High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Gastric Cancer Regardless of Site

Some epidemiologic factors and body mass index (BMI) have site-specific effects on gastric cancer. The site-specific effect of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and hyperglycemia on gastric cancer has not been reported.

This study included adults who underwent national gastric cancer screening in 2011 (n=5.49 million). The validation set included gastric cancer patients (n=3,262) and gastric cancer-free persons who underwent health screening (n=14,121) in a single hospital. The site-specific effects of metabolic components and epidemiologic factors on gastric cancer were investigated.

Among 5.49 million individuals, 10,417 gastric cancer cases (6,764 non-cardiac gastric cancer [NCGC] and 152 cardiac gastric cancer [CGC]) were detected. BMI was inversely associated with NCGC (P for trend <0.001) but not with CGC. Low HDL-C was associated with both CGC (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.34 to 2.71) and NCGC (aOR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.34 to 1.49). Fasting glucose ≥110 mg/dL was associated with NCGC (aOR, 1.19) and CGC (aOR, 1.50). Men predominance was larger in CGC (aOR, 3.28) than in NCGC (aOR, 1.98). Smoking, alcohol drinking, and family history were associated with NCGC but not with CGC. In the validation set, low HDL-C was associated with CGC (aOR, 2.80) and NCGC (aOR, 2.32). BMI was inversely associated with NCGC (P for trend <0.001), and hyperglycemia was positively associated with both NCGC and CGC.

Many epidemiologic factors had site-specific effects on gastric cancer, whereas low HDL-C and hyperglycemia were constantly associated with gastric cancer regardless of the site in two independent sets.