Decreases in serum cholesterol levels in advanced lung cancer.

Serum lipid concentrations, including triglycerides, free fatty acids, phospholipids, low-density lipoproteins, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and lipoprotein fractions, were investigated in 43 male patients with advanced nonresectable lung cancer and 37 age- and sex-matched healthy male controls. The cancer patients as a group demonstrated significantly lower total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol as compared with the healthy controls. There were no significant differences between the various fractions of lipoproteins in the two patient groups. These results suggest hypocholesterolemia including decreased serum HDL cholesterol in advanced lung cancer patients.