BACKGROUND: Cholesterol is an essential building block of the cell membrane and an important molecule for cell signaling and function. The dysregulation of cholesterol metabolism has been linked to several diseases, including cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate whether serum cholesterol is associated with the survival outcomes of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: The concentration of total cholesterol (TC) was measured in pre-operative serum samples of 637 NSCLC patients. The associations of TC with recurrence and overall survival were analyzed using a Cox proportional hazard regression model. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were calculated for overall survival analysis. RESULTS: Our analyses showed that low serum levels of TC were associated with an increased risk of death. The association between TC and overall survival remained significant after patient age at diagnosis, gender, disease stage, histotype, tumor grade, body mass index (BMI), and smoking status were adjusted in the analysis. The patients with low serum TC had a 61% (95% confidence interval: 1.18 - 2.19) higher risk of death compared to those with normal TC. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed similar results. No association was found between TC and recurrence in NSCLC. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the pre-surgical serum level of TC may be an independent prognostic indicator for NSCLC overall survival.
BACKGROUND:Cholesterol is an essential building block of the cell membrane and an important molecule for cell signaling and function. The dysregulation of cholesterol metabolism has been linked to several diseases, including cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate whether serum cholesterol is associated with the survival outcomes of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: The concentration of total cholesterol (TC) was measured in pre-operative serum samples of 637 NSCLCpatients. The associations of TC with recurrence and overall survival were analyzed using a Cox proportional hazard regression model. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were calculated for overall survival analysis. RESULTS: Our analyses showed that low serum levels of TC were associated with an increased risk of death. The association between TC and overall survival remained significant after patient age at diagnosis, gender, disease stage, histotype, tumor grade, body mass index (BMI), and smoking status were adjusted in the analysis. The patients with low serum TC had a 61% (95% confidence interval: 1.18 - 2.19) higher risk of death compared to those with normal TC. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed similar results. No association was found between TC and recurrence in NSCLC. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the pre-surgical serum level of TC may be an independent prognostic indicator for NSCLC overall survival.