Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) poses a major public health challenge in South Korea. While dyslipidemia is increasingly linked to CRC risk, its mechanisms remain unclear. Meat consumption may influence both lipid profiles and CRC risk, but thes...
Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) poses a major public health challenge in South Korea. While dyslipidemia is increasingly linked to CRC risk, its mechanisms remain unclear. Meat consumption may influence both lipid profiles and CRC risk, but these relationships are not well understood in East Asian populations. This study investigated these associations in a large Korean cohort.
Methods: This study used data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study Health Examinee (KoGES HEXA) cohort, a large prospective cohort of 173,357 participants, and its repeated measure study. At baseline, serum lipid levels and various types of meat consumption were measured. CRC cases, identified through linkage with the Korea Central Cancer Registry, and lipid values from repeat measurements were used as outcome variables. To analyze the associations between serum lipids and CRC risk, and that between meat consumption and CRC risk, Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for the associations between meat consumption and dyslipidemia, as well as its individual components.
Results: Triglycerides (TG) and the TG/HDL (TG/high density lipoprotein) ratio were positively associated with CRC risk. In multivariable-adjusted models, participants in the highest quartile of TG had an increased risk of CRC compared to the lowest quartile (HR 1.32; 95% CI: 1.10–1.59; p-trend=0.001). Similarly, hypertriglyceridemia was associated with increased CRC risk (HR 1.20; 95% CI: 1.02–1.41). The TG/HDL ratio showed a strong dose–response relationship with CRC (Q4 HR 1.34; 95% CI: 1.11–1.63; p-trend=0.002). These findings were robust, with associations persisting across subgroup analyses stratified by lipid-lowering drug use, age, diabetes status, and length of follow-up. Total cholesterol (TC) also showed significant associations with CRC, but only in the subgroup excluding lipid-lowering drug users.
Significant associations were also found between meat consumption and dyslipidemia. Intake of ≥2 servings/day of red meat or total meat was associated with higher odds of hypertriglyceridemia (OR: 1.79, 95% CI: 1.28–2.51; p-trend = 0.002 and OR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.15–2.25; p-trend = 0.003, respectively). However, no associations were found between meat consumption and CRC or its anatomic subsites.
Conclusion: In this large Korean cohort, TG, TC, and the TG/HDL ratio were positively associated with CRC risk, and red meat and total meat consumption were associated with hypertriglyceridemia. These findings suggest that elevated TG and related lipid abnormalities appear to be more direct markers of CRC than meat consumption itself, which likely influences cancer risk indirectly through its effects on lipid metabolism within a broader metabolic and lifestyle context. Future research should incorporate mortality linkage, investigate alternative mechanisms and mediators in the diet-lipid-CRC relationship, and clarify the potential for dietary interventions in CRC prevention.