Fecal neutral sterols in patients with colon cancer.

Fecal cholesterol and its metabolites were measured in 10 patients with colon cancer and 10 control subjects. All individuals were consuming a mixed western diet of collection of stool specimens. The fecal concentration of total neutral sterols and coprostanol was greater in the control subjects as compared to the colon cancer patients, but the difference was not statistically significant. The same was the case for the metabolic conversion rate of cholesterol. The frequency distribution of the latter was bimodal especially among control subjects, with 3 subjects having an extremely high conversion rate. The level of neutral sterols is lower from stated values in most reports for colon cancer patients but higher to that reported for high risk populations for colon cancer and to this respect our finding are relevant with the increasing incidence of colon cancer in Greece.