High levels of total cholesterol in the serum as a predictor of poor survival in patients with glioma

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The alteration of lipid profiles has been documented to be associated with the incidence of various cancers. However, the prognostic value of pre-operative serum total cholesterol (TC) in glioma patients has not been reported. Material and methods Pre-operative serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations, including TC, triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and ApoA-I, were retrospectively analyzed in 221 patients with glioma and compared with 218 healthy controls. The Cox proportional hazards model and log-rank test were performed to analyse the prognostic value of serum lipid levels in patients with glioma. Results Compared with healthy control patients, the levels of TC and LDL-C were statistically significantly lower in patients with glioma. Serum TC concentrations were significantly higher in patients with glioma recurrence than in patients whose disease did not recur. Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated TC level, WHO grade, post-operative chemoradiotherapy and age to be independent prognostic factors that were correlated with shorter overall survival. In addition, TC level, WHO grade and age were identified as prognostic factors associated with recurrence-free survival in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions Increased pre-operative TC concentrations were found to be associated with poorer long-term survival in patients with glioma. Ultimately, our findings indicate that, in glioma patients, the evaluation and control of serum lipids may provide prognostic and therapeutic value respectively.